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AT&T To Decommission Pay Phones

Posted by Zonk on from the death-by-cell-phone dept.

oahazmatt writes "According to MarketWatch, AT&T said that its pay phones will be phased out over the next year. A company spokeswoman declined to say how much revenue its pay-phone business generated, but the number is small and declining. 'The first public pay-telephone station was set up in 1878, just two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the talking device. The first coin-operated pay phone was installed in Hartford, Conn., in 1889. For decades after the pay phone's invention, many Americans relied on them because of the expense and difficulty in obtaining reliable home service. Only after World War II did the telephone become a household necessity.'"

12 of 470 comments (clear)

  1. No longer required.. by in2mind · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ..Because there are cellphone everywhere? But if you find yourself without cellphone in a situation,would some stranger lend you his for a call you want to make?

    Oh its about profit...ok..

    --
    Wincopy
    1. Re:No longer required.. by Abcd1234 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And what about those who either choose not to have a cellphone, or can't afford one? Not everyone is willing to dedicate themselves to multi-year plans, or spend a not-insignificant number of dollars on a handset so they can pay (exhorbitantly) as they go.

    2. Re:No longer required.. by LighterShadeOfBlack · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh its about profit...ok.. Well... yes, yes it is. AT&T are a business, profit is their general goal.

      Even if someone won't lend you a cellphone in case you run off with it, just go into a building and ask if you can use their landline. Most people are pretty reasonable. OK... some people are pretty reasonable. But even if you had to try two or three places it's hardly a big deal for this life-and-death call you just have to make, right?

      That is, unless you find yourself alone without a cellphone in the middle of nowhere. But then again there probably wouldn't be a pay phone there anyway.
      --
      Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
    3. Re:No longer required.. by Average · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In the US, at least, a new handset for prepaid (Tracfone) goes for $15 plus sales tax. You can get a year's worth of operation for $80 (if you buy a $20 card quarterly) or $100 (for more minutes than that). Minutes that you use are much cheaper than the 50 cents + long distance for a payphone call.

      Plus, any cellphone can call 911, activated or not. Lots of working ones for $3.99 with a charger at my local Goodwill.

      Not saying it's a good deal, or that I can't understand not wanting to bother with one. But, they aren't that expensive in this country.

      Canada on the other hand doesn't have anything nearly as affordable as Tracfone (or I would get one for use when I'm traveling there).

    4. Re:No longer required.. by leoxx · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Don't be absurd. Cell phones as a necessity is only true in countries where there is little to no telecommunications infrastructure. In north america one can easily get by without a cell phone, and I do so every single day.

    5. Re:No longer required.. by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Cell Phones have become a necessity, like it or not.


      No, they haven't. Folks like Verizon/Cingular/whomever have spent millions convincing people that cell phones are a necessity when in reality they are not. As the poster above you intimated, there are those who get along quite well without a cell phone and for whom one is not remotely necessary.

      The vast majority of people who think they need a cell phone are the same ones I hear in a grocery store or mall having the following conversation:

      "Uh huh. Yeah. We saw that. I told her not to do it but she don't lis'n. Uh huh. Yeaahhh. I like dat. Oops! Sorry, didn't see you there. Just ran into something because I'm talking to you. Heh heh."

      There are very, very, VERY few people who specifically need a cell phone. Those that think they need one would be very surprised to find out how few "necessity" calls they make in a week if they would keep track of their calls.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    6. Re:No longer required.. by in2mind · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even if someone won't lend you a cellphone in case you run off with it, just go into a building and ask if you can use their landline.
      Its not about running away with their phone..Its about a call to a person about whom the owner has no idea & in case any trouble,the phone owner will be the first to face it.

      just go into a building and ask if you can use their landline. Most people are pretty reasonable. OK... some people are pretty reasonable. But even if you had to try two or three places it's hardly a big deal for this life-and-death call you just have to make, right?
      Thats when assuming there are always buildings around you, open & welcoming you at Night anywhere!
      --
      Wincopy
    7. Re:No longer required.. by Jhon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The pay as you go phones are for people who are either A) poor (obviously because they can't manage finances since they bought this) or B) buy into the whole "it's cheaper cuz you pay for the minutes up front".

      Or C) They are GOOD with their finances and are willing to pay $.25 per minute for 50 or so minutes per month they *WILL* use rather than pay $40+ per month or more for minutes they will *NEVER* use.

      I fell in to this catagory through 2005. ATT had a deal where I spent $25, got a cell phone with $15 of minutes on it ($.10 per minute) -- and got 20 minutes per month for free every month for 1 year. The entire plan cost me $50 over a year (I needed to buy one $25 phone card when I ran low on minutes one month).

      Other than for work, I can't see how ANYONE can spend more than 100 (hell, even 400) minutes on a cell phone per month. Even now, I RARELY go over 200 minutes per month.
  2. farewell, anonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh look, a violent crime. Better go to the nearest payphone and report it so I don't get roped in to the case just 'cos I'm concerned about someone being beaten to a pulp.

    Oh, no payphone.

    1. Re:farewell, anonymity by vhold · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This was my first thought as well. Case in point: A friend of mine used a pay phone to report a car being broken into, and when they asked for his name he just said "Nope" and hung up. The cops arrived shortly thereafter and caught the thief in the act. He would not have made that call on his phone.

  3. That's how I switched by NetDanzr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I moved to Atlanta in summer of 2004, it was the lack of pay phones in Midtown that finally made me purchase a cell phone. Had there been easily accessible pay phones in the city, I would most likely still rely on them. I wonder whether we'll see a significant increase in cell phone subscription now, or whether there aren't enough crazy luddites like me left anymore.

  4. You don't understand the word 'need'. by FatSean · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Most Americans don't, which is why they carry so much debt and the economy is shitting the bed.

    --
    Blar.