First it was time of day. Now it's the public pay phone. It looks like AT&T as the RBOC. Finds that the old technology is no longer needed thanks to cell phones.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=24840

I thought AT&T got out of the pay phone business years ago. The only ones I've seen in the last 20 years are the poorly maintained, independently owned ones that I lost money in more often than than I actually got calls through.

AT&T itself hasn't really existed for a few years. After the big breakup in the 1980s, AT&T divested itself of some of its other businesses, and what remained was acquired by SBC Communications a couple of years ago - and kept the name and ticker symobol "T."

So it doesn't seem like a big milestone to me that the former SBC Communications has decided to exit a business from one of the companies it acquired.

Andrew

If it were me, I would expand on the pay phone. Lots of them established, up and running. Probably losers too.

Why not add some services? Quick charge your cell battery, download something, wireless ports, buy phone time, candy, ads in return for a local call?

I would imagine you need a certain amount of use before a payphone manages to stay profitable, since someone still must maintain it. As pay-as-you-go phones become cheaper and cheaper, it will become even less practical to use a payphone.

We have a payphone on the corner near the convenience store across from my house. Both the store and the phone seem to attract characters. I wish the phone and the store would go away, actually.

Andrew

That is the downside for sure. Maybe it's better if they go away slowly.

Perhaps there is enough other technology laying around, we don't really need pay phones. I like the idea that I can use a phone somewhere, if I need to, without really depending on people.

On the flip side, there are a lot of nice people carrying around portable phones!

Maybe it's time to realize we don't need these kinds of things. It bothers me some to say it, but it's highly likely that only characters need / have incentive to use pay phones.

The few times I've been stuck and in need of a phone recently, never warranted a pay phone. Was easy enough to ask somebody for a quick favor. Might just be better that way.

Problem with pay phones, they have to be very durable, a very few people really abuse them, from trying to steal the money, to just vandilism for fun.

But there is a large need for public phones, not everyone has a cell, and there isn't always a good samaritan that will loan you his/her phone.

Are you sure about that?

There are a few phones around where I live and my experience is very similar to Andrews. Not all that good.

Some places, like airports and such need the phones. Not a big deal, and I agree those are needed.

That scummy one on the corner, doing more meth deals than helping people get in touch, is not exactly a public need, IMHO. I drive by it often and all I ever see is real losers fighting on it, or using it as a quick and dirty drug deal office location.

The bottom line is that pay phones that are profitable will stick around, those that aren't will get 86'd.

The pay phone industry is a good example of an industry that is past maturity and is now in decline. It won't be completely gone, but will become more niche.

Well, it seems we are leaving out the hearing impaired . . . many (most}? cell phones are user-unfriendly when it comes to hearing aid compatability . . . then there are the dirt poor witnesses to YOUR car wreck and you're knocked unconcious and don't have onstar. How are they to call 911?

The "86'd" just might be your own. ESPECIALLY if you are clutching a cell phone in a pool of blood -- someone might not run 3 blocks to find a working pay phone or pry a cell phone from your bloody hands.

I've noticed that a lot pay phones seem to be targets for vandals. For instance, several of the MAX platform phones on the Hillsboro end of the line have had the "TELEPHONE" sign broken and the fluorescent light inside ripped out. What the hell reason would anyone have for doing this??

I can certainly see how it might not be profitable to operate public telephones if the usage is so low that the income doesn't make up for vandalism losses. This is too bad, as I sometimes use pay phones. Most of the pay phones that I have run across, by the way, do have a volume adjustment to aid people who are hard of hearing.

With a pay phone one can just dial 911 and wait. Someone will come out. No hearing required.

I think Max sites should have panic buttons, which would alert authorities.