Alexander Trevi on the architecture of waiting: “… landscapes of waiting. The anticipation of a call, or the prank call, ticking silently but surely like a bomb counting down to an as yet unknown detonation time.” Read more at Pruned
“Cell phones are increasingly popular among the Triangle’s homeless. With public pay phones quietly disappearing and prices on cell phones dropping, many homeless people say that it just makes sense.” Read more at Journalnow.com
“An Atlanta man will spend the next 13 years in prison for defrauding more than 12,000 people out of $400 million in a payphone fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp sentenced Charles E. Edwards, 67, of Atlanta, to prison on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Edwards…
“In the past six years nearly 17,000 payphones have disappeared, and initial reports suggested Telstra wanted to cut 5000 of the 32,000 that remain. “The carrier says the future of the phone box is in the public’s hands – and the public is increasingly turning to mobiles. Users have taken out 18.4 million mobile phone…
The New York Times, which did a front page profile of the Payphone Project on May 13, 2004, today has a more perfunctory piece on the demise of the payphone. “The bottom line,” [Verizon spokesperson Jim] Smith added, “is that pay phones are struggling to generate revenue, and are no longer profitable, so out they…
“On Thursday, the Maine Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing on a rule change that would allow it to direct phone companies to install coinless phones around the state.” Maine’s remotest areas often lack any cell phone coverage, but the rush to remove money-losing payphones has left some areas with no access to…
“BT has pulled the plug in an ambitious scheme to replace 28,000 red phone boxes with all-singing, all-dancing Internet-enabled payphones.” Read more at the Register
Telus says they’re considering “curfewed” payphones, which function normally during the day but only allow for emergency calls after dark. “Obviously we’re very, very cautious about removing pay phones from a low-income neighbourhood,” says Hall. “If you’ve got an area where the demographics (indicate) that a lot of people can’t afford to have a home…
“A portion of the ‘overcharge’ paid by inmates’ families on high priced prison calls is extorted by the State of New York, leaving families with outlandish phone bills or out of touch with incarcerated loved ones.“ Read more at The New Standard
TMCnet reports on Washington D.C. Payphone usage: “In some neighborhoods, pay phones always seem to be broken. It hurts poor people the worst. There are still many people in this city who cannot afford phone service, period. Public pay phones are an absolute essential for a lot of people. “For telecommunications giant Verizon, maintenance of…
In case you thought calls made from payphones were anonymous, read this story. Read more at the St. Pete Times
“Immigrants living in Ireland are rescuing the humble public payphone from near redundancy, according to a new survey.“ The same could be said of immigrants in the U.S. reviving the pre-paid calling card industry. Read more at the Irish Examiner
AT&T removes a payphone, then considers re-installing it when it’s revealed that this payphone some historical significance. AT&T spokesperson makes an interesting comment: “A pay phone has to make a dollar a day to break even…” Read more at the Tahlequah Daily Press
“A Scottsdale company believes it has an answer for the struggling pay-phone business: Let customers dial a call for free.” This is not really new. Popa Media, as covered by the Payphone Project several months ago, has offered free public telephones throughout New York City for some time now. I think that free (ad-supported) public…
“[New York C]ity is being cheated out of millions of dollars a year in advertising revenue generated by street pay phones, Comptroller William Thompson has charged in a new report. “…the biggest offender was Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation which owes 1.5 million of the total. “Telebeam and other franchise owners hired media sales companies Vector and…
I was asked to comment for this story, but unfortunately my travel plans interfered with my ability to do so. My apologies to Jason, and kudos on a fine story about the enduring place for payphones in modern life. Read more at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“There was a time when payphones were one of the only ways that New Zealanders could access the telephone when they were away from home or the office. Today, there are nearly as many mobile phones in New Zealand as there are people…” Read more at Cellular News
This article implies that payphones are irrelevent in the African communications revolution being brought about by cell phone service. In fact satellite powered community payphones are changing whole communities throughout Africa where most citizens can not afford personal or business phone service. Nevertheless, this is a good story showing the signal changes happening in Africa…
The New York Times reports: “[T]ownspeople were determined to keep the phone when the telephone company, Verizon, said in 2000 that it planned to remove the device because it was not making enough money. “With the proliferation of cellphones, BlackBerries and other devices that operate on digital technology rather than dimes, pay phones are a…
Internetnews.com reports: “It seemed like a great idea: own fee-based, public Internet terminals located in malls and rake in the cash. Too good, in fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission. “The FTC’s complaint names as defendants Transnet Wireless Corp. of Plantation, Fla., and its president Bradley Cartwright; Nationwide Cyber Systems of Hollywood, Fla., and…
Growing phenomenon in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods: Payphones locked by chains on weekends and holidays ‘to prevent Sabbath desecration by Christians’ Read more at YNetNews.com
The Wickenberg Sun reports: “According to Benner-Nawman President Ed Kientz, the decline of the telephone booth business began with the deregulation of the telephone industry. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 deregulated the pay phone business to the point where its profitability was sharply diminished, and the need for the booths declined. “Globally, telephones are still…
“A jury found Charles Edwards, who founded ETS Payphones a decade ago, guilty of 83 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.” Read more
“Charles Edwards was a failed entrepreneur who found gold in 1996 when the pay telephone industry was deregulated. “But Edwards’ success was merely a mirage built on deceit, federal prosecutors say. Edwards is accused of running a Ponzi scheme…” Read more (Registration required, but it’s free and this is an interesting story for the payphone…
“These phone boxes provide a lifeline in many rural communities, both for visitors and the people who live there. “In an emergency, the closure of these payphones could cause real problems. The phone box closure programme must be stopped before it is too late.” Read more
This memo from Sprint’s corporate intranet was sent to the Payphone Project by a Sprint employee. While the death knells continue to sound, Sprint sees a distinct and profitable future for the payphone. With this memo Sprint calls on employees to scout out locations for modest cash rewards. Sprint is giving employees a chance to…
“If telephones ever come to Stehekin, a lot of tourist brochures will need editing. Most locals use two-way radios to communicate within the valley, so you can’t say anything that you don’t want your neighbors to hear. But the modern world is encroaching.” Read more
“Councillor Keith Sharp said: “We have made a request for the phone box in Francis Gardens to be removed because we have been inundated with complaints about youths using it as a toilet and gathering around it and causing trouble.” Read more