“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…
“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
“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
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
“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
“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…
“A campaign for payphone modernization has started in capital Sofia, with the first ones of the new cabins already anticipating their clients.” Read more
“In the biggest evolution of the phone box for more than 20 years, BT is moving the telephone to the outside of the kiosk, and filling the interior with a vending machine that dispenses chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks.” Read more
“MTN Rwanda says that in the past year, it has provided over 1,600 GSM based payphones for rural communities, bringing communications to areas that are often not served by landline phone networks.” Read more
The New York Times reports that 25% of New York City subway payphones: “lacked a dial tone, were unable to connect to a toll-free test number, did not return coins, did not register coin deposits or had blocked coin slots or faulty handsets.” Verizon responds: “A Verizon spokesman said the study’s focus was too narrow.…
“Sprint has received at least 31 requests for phone service in the phase III section but will not put the connecting lines and boxes in until the company can reach an agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on a form of compensation for the work.” A story for those who assume that access to…
ConsumerAffairs.com reports: “Victims were told that they could buy the phones, lease them back to ETS to operate, and receive a “guaranteed” 14 percent return on their investment. Furthermore, the investors were told that they could sell the phones back to the ETS for the original purchase price at any time after six months. Typically,…
“I’m convinced that while making a lot of phone calls involves little actual work, it is a tremendously draining activity. Though it requires no physical exertion, there is a difficulty inherent in communicating with people who are far away as though we were actually in their presence.” This is not really a payphone story, but…
“Pay phones don’t get a ringing endorsement from consumers. “The popularity of cell phones has made them a lonely alternative in an increasingly wireless world, but companies that own pay phones don’t expect them to face extinction. “There is going to be a base of users who will always be users of pay phones, either…
“‘I would certainly think the cellphone is making the pay phone extinct,’ says Merton C. Flemings, professor emeritus of materials, science, and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ‘I can’t imagine pay phones surviving very long in any great numbers.'” Look for a quote from the Payphone Project in this well-reported story about payphones…
Business Week reports: “TCC Teleplex chief Dennis Novick says pay phones with high-speed Net connections in New York City are only the start of its plans.” My acquaintances in the payphone business refer to Dennis Novick as “Dennis.” He only needs one name. “Dennis” is responsible for many of the payphone kiosks found throughout Manhattan.…
The New York Times reports: “You have to lament what’s become of the pay phone. For decades, it was a trusted friend to New Yorkers in a pinch, but in this cellphone and BlackBerry era it is viewed by most as a quarter-sucking fossil. And that makes Dennis Novick, who is wildly excited about pay…