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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.'"

32 of 470 comments (clear)

  1. Just great! by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now where is Superman supposed to change?

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    1. Re:Just great! by phobos13013 · · Score: 3, Funny

      And where exactly do I ask you is Tony Soprano supposed to call in his hits from now? He cant use his freaking cell phone... fongu!

      --
      ...and it should be known by now
  2. 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 CRCulver · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In Finland there is an excellent telecommunications infrastructure, and yet mobile phones are necessities. For example, some new apartment blocks lack doorbells, since when you reach the outside door it is expected that you can phone your acquaintance to let him know you are waiting to enter. Payphones were generally phased out years ago, with only a handful left in the very centre of Helsinki for tourists. Then there is the whole social issue, sometimes people just don't want to deal with you if you don't have a mobile.

    6. 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
    7. Re:No longer required.. by michrech · · Score: 5, Informative
      Give me a break. You can (at least in the area of the US in which I reside) walk into virtually any store and walk out with a contractless cell phone, quite cheaply. It shouldn't matter *too* much if the per-minute charges are somewhat high as, if your "example" would be correct, they don't want it in the first place, there-by meaning they'd hardly be using it as it is.

      Hell, just looking at AT&T's web site (side note: MAN I hate this company -- if they do purchase DishNetwork, I'm switching to DirecTV...), you can get a damned "goPhone" for a whopping $10(!) and there are two access plans. Either an access plan that is $1 per day (you ONLY get charged the "access fee" of $1 on a day that you actually make a call) + 10 cents per minute, OR, a fee where the minutes are 25 cents.

      By MY calculations, that does not qualify as "not-insignificant number of dollars on a handset", nor does it qualify for "they can pay (exorbitantly) as they go."

      Next time, you might actually, ohh, I dunno, try backing up your statements with some facts? Wait.. I forgot. This is slashdot.

      Just because you hate the cell phone companies (the only thing I can assume from your attitude) doesn't mean that they are out to lock you into multi-year expensive plans in an effort to not provide you adequate service and empty your wallet. It just means you haven't done your homework. Hell, it took me 2 minutes to find AT&T's rates. I'm sure other carriers have pricing similar (T-Mobile probably being one of the better carriers).

      I'm really not trying to bait you into a flamewar, nor am I trying to be a troll. There are plenty of reasons to hate the telephone companies, so why make up more?

      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.
      --
      bork bork bork!
    8. 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
    9. 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.
  3. 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.

    2. Re:farewell, anonymity by MBGMorden · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you're that concerned, carry a random cell phone with no service activated. By national law, cell carriers have to accept incoming 911 calls even from phones with no active service plan.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  4. Hang on... by greyworld · · Score: 4, Informative

    Bell did not invent the telephone. It was Antonio Meucci!

  5. 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.

  6. wireless access points any one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    keep the phone add dsl to the line and a wifi connection - good to go.

  7. Took them long enough. by cyberworm · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's about phreaking time.

  8. turning over to independent operators, that is. by mgoren · · Score: 5, Informative

    At least according to AT&T, the phones aren't just going to disappear. What the article says is that AT&T is getting out of the pay phone business, turning some or all of their phones over to independent operators.

    1. Re:turning over to independent operators, that is. by MyNymWasTaken · · Score: 3, Funny

      What are you doing actually reading, and comprehending, the article?

      This. Is. Slashdot!

  9. I hope BT doesn't follow suit by MSBob · · Score: 4, Funny

    The British Telecom phone booths look really nice not to mention all the handy hooker ads inside :-)

    --
    Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
    1. Re:I hope BT doesn't follow suit by rwyoder · · Score: 3, Funny

      The British Telecom phone booths look really nice not to mention all the handy hooker ads inside :-
      Not to mention the problems it would create for Doctor Who.
    2. Re:I hope BT doesn't follow suit by Joe+Jay+Bee · · Score: 4, Informative

      This is pedantry 2 DA MAX, but Dr Who uses a police box (which have already been phased out) not a phone box.

      --
      I write bullshit
  10. Profit != Bad by p0tat03 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    People are treating ATT like the scum of the Earth here, which they may be in their mobile business, but I can't see why expecting to break even is such an evil goal.

    Pay phones here in Canada are up to $1 a call now, ridiculous, when it was a quarter merely a few years before. The downturn in usage means increased cost per call for the few people that still use them, which drives a cycle that forces everyone to get some sort of cell phone.

    Both my brother (an academic) and my mother have pay-as-you-go plans, which cost them about $120 a year. That's really not too bad, considering they're light users. They enjoy the convenience of a cell phone, and also the security from being able to call emergency services wherever they may be, as opposed to having to locate the nearest (dwindling number) payphones.

    I simply do not see pay phones as having any further use to our society. They were important pieces of technology from a bygone era, that's all.

  11. Presumably by Colin+Smith · · Score: 3, Interesting

    One could buy all the payphones, stick a wireless access point in them and an ADSL port on the other end of the line.

    Hmmmm... With the dollar going off the cliff I might just be able to afford it.

    --
    Deleted
  12. Re:Bound to happen by sm62704 · · Score: 4, Funny

    My 76 year old dad has neither a cell phone nor a computer, and he likes it that way!

    I'm reminded of my mother's dad, who still used the outhouse even after my Uncle installed plumbing and a bathroom. "I lived [n] years without [plumbing/cell phones] and I don't need one now!

    I can just see when I hit 90. "Damn it, I lived 90 years without a matter replicator or a transporter and I don't need one now!"

    -mcgrew

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  13. Re:Just putting in my 2 cents worth by omeomi · · Score: 4, Funny

    I remember when you just had to push some buttons on a little box that you bought from that guy who always wore a trench coat, and the calls were free ;-)

    --
    ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
  14. Didn't you see the movie? by Tetsujin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Now where is Superman supposed to change? Superman has been dealing with this problem since 1978 at least... Remember? He tried to change at the payphone, but found that it didn't have a full booth around it... So he came up with other places to change, like in the revolving door, and in mid-air after jumping out the window, etc...
    --
    Bow-ties are cool.
  15. 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.
  16. Nine ways to handwave lack of cell phones by tepples · · Score: 3, Funny

    then again, there will be a similar problem when horror movies eventually acknowledge that most people have cell phones. most of the classic horror movies work around the premise that you can't just call somebody and the cast has to continually walk into some sort of trap. Even after Verizon starts advertising its network in the commercials preceding the film, there are plenty of handwaves that screenwriters can still use to move an idiot plot forward:
    • Out of minutes on a prepaid phone
    • Parent confiscated cell phone for overage on a 24-month-plan phone
    • Setting the movie in plain people country
    • Rural area with "no conexión" as they used to say in commercials for La Quinta Inn
    • Cell phone jammer
    • Foreigners with a GSM phone in a CDMA country or vice versa
    • Cell phone confiscated by movie theater personnel after someone forgot to turn it off and it rang
    • Cell phone confiscated by movie theater personnel for fear of using it as a camcorder
    • People turned into zombies after being hypnotized by their cell phones
  17. two words... by Cryacin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now where is Superman supposed to change? Stripper pants
    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck