UK: BT plan to cut Dundee payphones
“There are 6200 payphones in Scotland and over two-thirds of these no longer cover their costs.” Read more
More Than 60 Pay Phones Burglarized In The Oklahoma City Area
“Sooner Telecommunication officials belief the thief is either a pay phone technician or someone who has worked in the field. The company says the equipment is being resold on the Internet and to other phone vendors.” Read more
New York Times: The Quarterless Phone
The New York Times reports on Popa Media’s free public phones, paid for by advertising: “‘Verizon, they went to 50 cents for a phone call, and I didn’t get to talk for three minutes, then they wanted 10 cents more,’ he said, walking off down 10th Avenue. Told of the free phone nearby, he did…
Indiana: Need a pay phone? You may be out of luck
“[T]here is still life left in pay phones because they serve a certain group of people, those who can’t afford or don’t want a cell phone. “Other users like the clarity of a pay phone better than a cell phone, use a pay phone instead of having a home phone or use them when their…
Sweethearts of the Switchboard
“During an era when women were only expected to fill the strict roles of nurse, wife or school teacher, these women arguably held more power in Morgan County than anybody. They controlled communication. They saw to it that wives got through to their husbands at work. They told the fire department to send trucks to…
North Carolina: Pay Phone Thief Sentenced
“Mr. Evans stole pay phones by unbolting them from their bases, and smashed them open for the money inside.” Seems like a lot of work for a small amount of money… Read more
Don’t hang up yet on pay telephones
“There will always be a need for pay phones, said Willard Nichols, president of the Alexandria, Va.-based American Public Communications Council, which represents [payphone] owners.” Read more
Pay phones hot for home decor
Gannon said that for most affluent people today, pay phones have been replaced completely by cell phones. “The coin drop is a thing of the past for the middle and upper class.” Read more
Africa: Community phones change lives of Rwandan farmers
“In March 2004, MTN Rwanda, the only mobile telecoms company in the tiny central African nation launched a community pay phone dubbed ‘tuvugane,’ meaning ‘let’s all talk.’ “It has since penetrated deep into the countryside, transforming the lives of thousands of rural people.” I love this company. MTN Rwanda. Read more
Toledo: Lagrange neighborhood hangs up pay telephones
“Once deemed a necessary safety feature of any urban neighborhood, pay telephones are increasingly considered emblems of urban blight. In Toledo, that perception may speed the demise of a street-corner icon already threatened by the omnipresence of cell phones. “The Lagrange business district became the first neighborhood to ban the phones outright, but it might…
UK: ‘Lifeline’ kiosk axed by BT
“People in Dunbeath are up in arms about the axing of a public phone kiosk in a remote spot which is very popular with hill-walkers.” “Freddy Mackay, gamekeeper at Glutt on Dunbeath Estate, is also unhappy at the demise of the kiosk. “‘It’s a damned shame they’ve taken it down,’ he said yesterday. ‘It was…
Russia: Payphones Evolve to Keep Clients
“To survive the mobile boom, the friendly local payphone has undergone a few changes. Sleeker, more sophisticated and multifunctional, a street payphone will soon offer Russian passers-by a whole new range of services.” Read more
South Carolina: Lack of pay phones causes problems for some
“[David] Mack, who is chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said he remains concerned about the need for pay phones in places where there is less economic incentive to replace them. In remote areas, cell-phone users can find themselves stranded without useful signals, yet some rural phone utilities have removed pay phones too.” Read more
FCC Investigates Universal Service Fund Management
TMCnet.com reports: “Before 1996, only long-distance providers paid fees into the USF. “The Telecommunications Act of 1996 expanded the types of companies required to contribute to the fund. “Today, local telcos, wireless telcos, long-distance companies, international telcos and payphone providers all contribute to the fund.” Read more at TMCnet.com
Are days numbered for pay phones?
“Kathie Purmal used to take it for granted that a pay phone would be around in case of an emergency. But after an incident last fall, the executive director of the Lake County Historical Society found herself reluctantly buying a cell phone.” Read more
NYC: Free calls have nice ring to ’em
“If there’s a catch, it’s that callers will be staring at ads on 6-foot-tall billboards while they jabber – not that many callers had a problem with that.” Read more
Dow Jones: “Mark Thomas has lost his audience”
“Over the years, pay phones have attempted to change with the times, often with mixed results. Technology enthusiasts are constantly writing them off, yet there remains a need for public pay phones, as demonstrated during the blackout that paralyzed much of the Northeast in July 2003.” The need for working payphones was particularly acute because…
New York: Call anyplace for free, really!
“A company called Popa Media has planted 47 absolutely FREE PHONES throughout the city – mostly in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Yes, really free. Pick it up and dial anywhere in the continental United States for four whole minutes, gratis.” I’ve been watching these Popa Media free phones for a while. A couple of these…
Cutting the phone cord isn’t as popular as predicted
“While the number of wireless-only households is increasing — close to 6 percent of all U.S. homes at the end of last year, according to Forrester Research Inc. — the trend isn’t accelerating as quickly as many experts predicted. And some consumers are reconsidering their decision to go wireless and are reconnecting to a landline.”…
NYC: Pay phones a rail problem
“The overall lack of (subway pay)phones, says state Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) is “a potentially life-threatening situation.” Is this a trend in 2005? Will common sense prevail over the assumption that public phone service should be abolished? Read more
UK: Kids play safer as payphone is saved
“It’s so stupid taking this phone box away. If there’s an accident this is the phone box that’s going to be used. You have only to want to use it once in an emergency and then it’s worth keeping all the time.” This seems to be a trend in 2005. Common sense prevails over the…
Maine won’t hang up on public pay phones
“With public pay telephones disappearing all over the state, Gov. John Baldacci has signed into law a bill aimed at keeping public phones in locations where they’re needed, especially in case of emergencies.” This legislation could be evidence that a bottoming out point has been reached in the decline of public telephones. It could also…
Malaysia: Mountain payphone enters records book
“Trekkers heading up Mount Kinabalu can now call home via two pay phones located 1.2km below the highest point, Low’s Peak. “Located at the Sayat Sayat station, at an altitude of 3,810m, the phones are also the highest such public facility in the country.” Read more at TheStar.com.MY
Berkeley Residents Get Prison Time For Pay Phone Scam
“Berkeley residents Daniel David and and Scott D. Nisbett were sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for their roles in a pay phone scam. “The two leased 24 pay phone lines, of which 23 were routed to an office space in South San Francisco where an automatic phone dialer was rigged to make endless…
East Texas: Remember The Payphone?
“While it may not become a museum piece anytime soon, the payphone has definitely seen better days.” Read more
Boston Globe: Hanging on by a wire
“Pay phones are on the wane, but even cellphone devotees plop in their coins.” A nice story which profiles a day in the life of a payphone. At the end of the story you are invited to share your thoughts on whether payphones are still necessary. We’ll keep an eye on this for interesting stories…
Verizon: Pay phones have ‘enduring future’
The Roanoke Times reports: “The number of pay phone locations is declining about 15 percent a year, although that downward slope has flattened recently. ‘We may have reached an equilibrium” where the right number of phones are in the right places,’ [Verizon spokesperson Jim] Smith said. “‘New York City phones? Crap,’ Smith said. ‘They’ve got…
Australia: The Internet-Ready PayPhone
“Telstra started a ten-week trial offering state-of-the-art public payphones capable of browsing the Internet, send (sic) e-mails, text and video messages via broadband.” Read more