Pay phones cling to life in U.S.
Kayla Kelley - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Metro
For the residents living in the 7 million households without a phone, pay phones are still a necessity.
"There is a large segment of the population that has no phone," said Randy Nichols, the president of American Public Communications Council Inc. "Pay phones are a lifeline for it."
While larger corporations such as AT&T and Qwest are leaving the pay-phone business, it does not mean such phones will become extinct. Instead, more than 1,000 independent pay-phone operators nationwide plan to keep pay phones in service, Nichols said.
After 129 years of offering pay-phone services, AT&T announced in December 2007 that the company would leave the business by the end of this year.
The phone company's 2007 statement cited "significant pressure from reduced pay-phone use, as a result of the growth of alternative communications choices, such as wireless phones and personal communication devices" as a reason for leaving.
It also said there was a decline in the pay-phone industry "from about 2.6 million in 1998 to an estimated 1 million phones today."
Still, 5 to 6 percent of the whole population, and almost 12 percent of minority households, do not have any phone besides a pay phone, Nichols said.
FSH Communications, for instance, picked up Qwest's pay phones when that company exited the business in 2004.
The communications company is the largest independent pay-phone provider in the country, said Jim Brandt, the director of infrastructure for FSH.
Nichols said this will probably happen again when AT&T is finished with the 13-month phasing out of its 65,000 pay phones.
"More than half will be kept in service by independent pay-phone providers," he said.
Brandt said FSH has 42,000 pay phones in 20 states, 2,600 in Iowa.
There has been a decline in the industry's numbers since the emergence of cell phones over the past five or six years for all pay-phone providers
"It does concern me that there won't be a pay-phone business," Brandt said. "But there will continue to be pay phones for people who need them for the foreseeable future."
In 2006, the Federal Communications Commission reported that there were 1 million pay phones in use. Nichols estimated that today the number is closer to 865,000.
The pay-phone industry - which was originally run by one monopoly telephone company - will survive through independent providers, he said.
E-mail DI reporter Kayla Kelley at:
kayla-kelley@uiowa.edu
"There is a large segment of the population that has no phone," said Randy Nichols, the president of American Public Communications Council Inc. "Pay phones are a lifeline for it."
While larger corporations such as AT&T and Qwest are leaving the pay-phone business, it does not mean such phones will become extinct. Instead, more than 1,000 independent pay-phone operators nationwide plan to keep pay phones in service, Nichols said.
After 129 years of offering pay-phone services, AT&T announced in December 2007 that the company would leave the business by the end of this year.
The phone company's 2007 statement cited "significant pressure from reduced pay-phone use, as a result of the growth of alternative communications choices, such as wireless phones and personal communication devices" as a reason for leaving.
It also said there was a decline in the pay-phone industry "from about 2.6 million in 1998 to an estimated 1 million phones today."
Still, 5 to 6 percent of the whole population, and almost 12 percent of minority households, do not have any phone besides a pay phone, Nichols said.
FSH Communications, for instance, picked up Qwest's pay phones when that company exited the business in 2004.
The communications company is the largest independent pay-phone provider in the country, said Jim Brandt, the director of infrastructure for FSH.
Nichols said this will probably happen again when AT&T is finished with the 13-month phasing out of its 65,000 pay phones.
"More than half will be kept in service by independent pay-phone providers," he said.
Brandt said FSH has 42,000 pay phones in 20 states, 2,600 in Iowa.
There has been a decline in the industry's numbers since the emergence of cell phones over the past five or six years for all pay-phone providers
"It does concern me that there won't be a pay-phone business," Brandt said. "But there will continue to be pay phones for people who need them for the foreseeable future."
In 2006, the Federal Communications Commission reported that there were 1 million pay phones in use. Nichols estimated that today the number is closer to 865,000.
The pay-phone industry - which was originally run by one monopoly telephone company - will survive through independent providers, he said.
E-mail DI reporter Kayla Kelley at:
kayla-kelley@uiowa.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Bob Carmichael
posted 5/16/08 @ 11:13 PM CST
I breaks my heart to see payphones fade away.I really liked the old superman type phone booths. People could have a nice private conversation. Even better was I didn't have to listen to their conversation. (Continued…)
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