Having spent 20 years engineering for telco, wireless, cable and datacom, standardization has brought a great deal of common elements to every company. Regionalities are less common today, and this builds better systems.
Infrastructure is evolving, with antiquated systems being replaced, although it takes a LONG time to replace everything that is sunstandard. I have seen many working example of wooden binding posts still in use, and developing nations sometimes don't have the benefit of technical expertise, or cash funding to impose new technology to ensure a solid infrastructure.
As for splicing, as long as it satisfies these 2 criteria, it should be fine : Electrical Stability (proper connection technique, isolation and insulation) and Physical Stability (numerous methods)
