A long article from Penn State University’s “Daily Collegian” describes the inexorable decline in payphones from the university’s campus.
Canadian company Freefone might be in line to replace college campus payphones with free (ad-supported) public phones, such as those seen around New York and other cities.
This article also touches on the reality of behaviour changes between older and younger generations. Today’s college students may never have made a collect or bill-to-third-party phone call.
“Though competition from wireless phones and other communication methods such as the Internet has caused a decrease in payphone use, there is a need for them, Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski said. The company operates all the payphones on Penn State’s campus.
“People may need access to a payphone because they don’t have a cell phone, their cell phone battery may be dead or they may simply have no phone available to them, he said. Four percent of Pennsylvania households do not have access to a home or cell phone, according to the FCC.”