Cell Phones, Slideshows, Traveler
AT&T to Phase Out Pay Phones By 2009
The writing is on the cave wall as a tried and true friend moves from city mainstay to relic of the Stone Age. Telephone giant AT&T will leave the pay phone market by the end of 2008, the company announced today. PR Newswire reports that the widespread use of cell phones and other communication devices has left AT&T with a declining market it no longer wishes to pursue. The phasing out of public pay phones and phones contracted out to correctional facilities will begin immediately and be limited to AT&T's thirteen state service area. Verizon, meanwhile, continues to offer pay phone service in 33 out of 50 states.
The move by AT&T, though, follows a general trend in the shrinking pay phone market. BellSouth Corporation, an AT&T acquisition in 2006, halted pay phone service in its nine state area in 2001. Indeed, today there are only about 1 million public pay phones in the United States, compared to 2.8 million in 1998. It is expected, however, that independent providers will pick up a portion of AT&T's business. In its announcement, the company assured customers that it will honor all existing contracts over the next year, while publicizing alternative providers and service options.
As sentimental as we can get about the passing of an era into a new, annoying age in which even nine year-olds have a CrackBerry and Bluetooth headset attached to the dome, we realize that it's true: All good things must come to an end, especially when we're talking wireless.
From PR Newswire Via MarketWatch (AOL Money & Finance)
Related Links:
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
janet said 3:24AM on 1-31-2008
check one two
Reply
janet said 3:43AM on 1-31-2008
I WANT TO KNOW WHO IN THE WORLD IS EVERYONE TALKING TO ??? BEFORE CELLS I DIDN'T SEE A LINE AT THE PAY PHONES. Sure we still need them--but who is that damn important????
Reply
Colonel said 9:08AM on 2-04-2008
It is apparent from the poll results that Americans recognize the important role that payphones play in society today. Since this is an internet poll, one can deduce that the millions of less affluent Americans that do not have a phone at all and rely solely on payphones did not weigh in. Please go to www.congress.org and contact your elected officials and the media. Voicing your concerns to these entities is how you can make a difference. The American Public Communications Councel, www.apcc.net and the Southern Public Communications Association, www.southernpublic.org are currently engaged in tring to get congress & the FCC to enforce their own laws concerning the survival of payphones. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Check out thse links and make your own you tube video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Gg0JMT9uE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhNOaS0q2qg
Reply
Bill said 7:32PM on 2-20-2008
Unfortunately there are a lot of people that still do not have phones in their homes or do not have cellphones who depend on public phones.
Also, in agreeing with many of the other respondants, payphones are often the only means of communications during national disasters such as 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina. During Hurricane Katrina, the lines at the payphones in the New Orleans Convention Center were 20 people deep!!
Reply
Lisa said 2:09PM on 12-05-2007
How will E.T. phone home?
Reply
Tiffany Nault said 2:17PM on 12-05-2007
I feel that we still need payphones. The reason why think so is for one thing not everyone has a cell phone. Also what happens if your cell phone goes dead an you need to call home bc of a child or something. Well if there is no payphones then how are you going to call home without buggin someone to use there phone. So I say KEEP THEM AROUND.
Reply
Kayla said 2:41PM on 12-05-2007
What a dumb idea? What if you have an emergency or need to call home and your cellphone battery dies? What if your phone is stolen, or broken? And I know it may come as a SHOCK to some people, but not everyone owns a cell phone. Many parents think cell phones are a bad idea for their children, I didn't have one until I was 15. I was 13 years old when I got on the bus in a heavy storm only to find out it was the wrong one. I didn't have enough money for another bus but I did have enough for a phone call. If there had been no pay phones around I would have had to walk home 2 miles in the rain and lightning. Pay phones will always be useful.
Reply
jeri said 2:56PM on 12-05-2007
Ive gotta think just what AT&T is up to now,you can bet its in their best interest.Probably getting ready to own all the cell phone Co's.jaroy
Reply
Marta said 3:00PM on 12-05-2007
The morning of 9/11 in New York, cell phones went out all over. There were lines of those fleeing the site at the working payphones just north of 14th Street in Manhattan. I think they should reconsider removing all the payphones
Reply
Leisha said 3:29PM on 12-05-2007
I have a cell phone and I forget it sometimes so then I need a pay phone. Think about all those people that don`t have home phones or cells? They need to rethink this move.
Reply
CeeC said 3:44PM on 12-05-2007
I don't have a cell phone but I can't remember the last time I saw a pay phone! They are probably dumping them because drug dealers used to use them but I think even they have switched to cell phones. Cell phones do have many places they don't work, dead areas despite what the Verizon guy says, pay phones should be placed around there or people with car break downs or just in trouble need something to call for help on!
Reply
tammy said 4:18PM on 12-05-2007
Not everyone has a CELL phone on hand, OR if for some reason the cell phone they do have don't always work, dead battery, out of range, etc.. If there is an emergecy your away from home how can you call for help!!! Please keep the pay phones around.Some of us still use them!!PLEASE !!
Reply
Evan said 4:10PM on 12-05-2007
Pay phones should still be present. I don't own a cell phone, nor do I feel the need to. It's just another expense to worry about. In NYC it was always nice that whenever I needed to make a call once in a while, I could just use a pay phone for a small fee.
I wouldn't like that convenience to be gone. They're also great in subways where there is no service for cell users.
Reply
Nikki said 4:10PM on 12-05-2007
Pay phones are usefull! I live in philly and there are only two pay phones left in the city that I know of and it stinks. Every other block should have them in case of an emergency!!!
Reply
tammy said 4:18PM on 12-05-2007
keep the opay phone We all need them in case of emergency.Car trouble calling family from emergency room etc. some hospitals don't want yuor cell phones turned on let alone in the building. please keep the PAY PHONES. the are an important part if our safty as a falsh light radio & water in an emergency. espec if you don't have a phone our your stuck someware
Reply
Trent said 4:22PM on 12-05-2007
Public Telephones: Not everyone reads books but the public library has a purpose. Very few of our homes are on fire but we keep the fire department around. It is easy to find reasons to keep public phones in existance. Private companies that are interested in profit are not going to provide this benefit to the public. If we as taxpayers think that public phones still serve a usefull purpose (even for that "just in case" situation) then we must encourage our government to create a public pay phone network owned and operated by the government.
Reply
K said 4:22PM on 12-05-2007
We have a place in the mountains. Our cell phones do not work. If they take them away we will be unable to talk to anyone. Leave the pay phones alone!!!
Reply
elodia said 7:03PM on 1-04-2008
there goes the neighborhood!
Reply
Gertruda said 4:28PM on 12-05-2007
Not all cell phone signals reach all areas in the country. Pay phones are still an important communication device and should not be abandoned.
Reply
Save-the-Payphone! said 4:39PM on 12-05-2007
There will ALWAYS be a need for payphones...I have been caught a number of times needing a payphone because, even though I have a cel I have been--out of my service area without digital roaming availability OR my phone's battery has run down OR I have forgotten my phone...It is not wise to assume EVERYONE has 100% access 100% of the time...I am also mad that AT&T cut out of providing time service...They stated that with everyone having cel phones these days, nobody needed time service anymore...Verizon still provides the service in this case too.
I am getting more than saturated with the high tech aspects of life, and the reassurance of a steady, safe, nearly always connected no matter what is happening with cel service payphones is something I don't want to see pass....And those independent payphone services cost so much money, and some don't even allow you to make collect calls...This ain't right.....
Reply