TLDR; Nicholas Merrill, a well known privacy activist, launched Phreeli, a phone service that lets you use mobile data and calls without giving your identity. It runs on T Mobiles network but only keeps a ZIP code and uses zero knowledge crypto so even payments are not linked to you. Merrill spent 10 years fighting the FBI over surveillance and now wants to make privacy simple and normal for everyone.

in my experience, community and people would always find work arounds

Congratulationsssssssssssss, wish you luck. Live long and prosper