I think it's terrible! Especially in places like high schools, movie theaters, etc. Not all kids have cell phones, and they need to be able to get to a phone in case of emergency!!

I think this SUCKS. I use payphones.

Damn, I remember red boxing. Had a Radio Shack pocket DTMF generator (remember those?) that I had done a little bit of soldering work to make it do the red box tones. Those days were fun. Not sure what today's youth do.

If they're removing pay phones that are unprofitable or vandalized often, that's one thing, but to remove all pay phones (as the text seems to suggest) is incredibly short sighted.

What about tourists or business travellers who don't have a cell phone or are on another network or in another country? What about unemployed people? People who need to call home? What about emergencies and 911?

There is benefit to having pay phones in a few key places such as hotels, supermarkets and government buildings.

@Angus: Oh does that bring back memories...I built a red-box in college using the guts of a hallmark recordable greeting card and the audio file of a quarter tone. Packaged it into a red Bubble Tape container.

It worked. Well. I tried it a few times to be sure. I did a "how to" speech in my communications class on how to build one.

Never worked on the COCOTs though... only the Michigan Bell payphones.

I work for Verizon in New York City on municipal jobs. Any phone booth that might be in the way of a city job is thoroughly studied to see if the money the phone booth makes is worth it enough to keep the phone booth in operation and allow the contractor to preserve it during construction (i.e. Verizon pays the contractor money to do so).

If the cost incurred to Verizon is more than what the phone booth makes, guess what? It's taken out.

The verdict? Most pay phones are removed.

Besides, who doesn't carry a cell these days?

@homerjay: I hated that show. Instant diabetes.

@bunnymen: Chances are, if it's in an area that's far from a cell tower or on the fringe, ain't gonna be a pay phone anyway.

The are still payphones. Who knew?

@hapless: As the quote from the article stated, AT&T's wholesale payphone service will not be affected. By wholesale payphone that means companies that pay AT&T for the phone line and maintain the phones themselves.

All this really does is open a cottage industry of non teleco payphones. Also, there's nothing stopping communities from putting up their own payphones if they feel they are in need of one.

You guys are saying the first pay phone was in Hartford, Engadget says Chicago. Who's right?

I wonder whether this will affect independent payphone operators. (Not that there are many of those left, either.)

I hate this so much. It's hard enough to find a pay phone these days. Yes, I have a cell phone, but it's not like its implanted into my body - yet. I just really feel like pay or public phones should be widely available 24/7 in case of emergency.

@vladthepaler:

Nothing so nefarious - the fact is, pay phone use is low enough that they don't bring in enough revenue to cover the cost of maintaining them. Only place that isn't true is New York City, where you're allowed to put ads on them, and the street advertising space makes them profitable even if nobody ever actualy calls.

Hope they are rolling out fuel cell backup systems for those towers...

I'm predicting that most people won't care about this until there's another multi-state blackout, when they will suddenly start to care a lot.