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Payphones Still Make Millions of Dollars (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the where-we-are-at dept.

From a report on Motherboard: Disruption-y tech companies like Uber and Twitter are a big part of "the discourse" and our daily lives, but neither of them make any profit. You know what once-groundbreaking technology doesn't have any problems making bank year after year? That's right, it's payphones. Most people now have a cell phone, so you may have wondered who still uses those rusted, quarter-eating boxes. As it turns out, a lot of people do. According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's 2017 monitoring report, payphones in Canada made $22 million CAD in 2016 (this figure may not account for the cost of upkeep, but the CRTC has stated in the past that payphones are "financially viable at current rates.") That's spread out among nearly 60,000 payphones in the country, which made roughly $300 per phone over the course of the year. That's at least a few calls per day, each. The US numbers are similar: The FCC reports that in 2015 payphones made $286 million, which is comparable for a population ten times the size of Canada's.

18 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Drug dealers like 'em by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Informative

    'nuff said.

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    1. Re:Drug dealers like 'em by fafalone · · Score: 2

      They used to, because law enforcement couldn't just listen to all conversations made on it since non-dealers use them too. Well, police and lawyers went crying to the courts about having to respect civil rights, and lo and behold the courts found yet another drug exception to the constitution, and nowadays police can simply tap any payphone they wish if they say it's known to be used by dealers. Now a lot of drug dealers are stupid and don't know this, but the big guys and the smarter ones do, so they're no longer used.

    2. Re: Drug dealers like 'em by tlhIngan · · Score: 2

      It's VERY easy to fake GPS. Just download an app that overrides the GPS and put yourself wherever you want to be. Just for fun, I made it look like I was in London.

      Two problems.

      1) E911 services and the like don't use fake GPS. In fact, the reason your phone HAS GPS is because the E911 requirement, and the modem provides AGPS to the user. That AGPS can then be fed to a proper GPS chip (which can provide GPS information even without service, but the AGPS data is used to help prime the GPS by providing epheremis data). So anything involving the phone GPS is not at the user level.

      2) It may only work in Europe. Europe uses AML (Advanced Mobile Location) instead of E911. E911 is implemented in the control and network planes, so GPS data is sent via the cellular modem to the towers and embedded in the control information. Because European cell towers aren't as advanced, they don't have this information, so E911 doesn't work. Instead, they use AML which is data plane based. Effectively it gets GPS information, creates a data connection and sends the GPS data via that side channel. You could quite possibly fool this method since it involves user code to do it.

  2. I can see this by slashmydots · · Score: 2

    Not everyone has a phone and if you don't, you basically can't even get a job. Libraries have computers and wifi. Buses take you places if you don't have a card. Why don't we allow basic telephone services to people without access to one? So yeah, leave a couple around town.

    1. Re:I can see this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      We do have programs for people who can't get access

      https://www.fcc.gov/general/lifeline-program-low-income-consumers

    2. Re:I can see this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      and if our current administration has their way, those programs will fizzle away into nothingness. they've already capped the low-income internet program; at a level far too low to meet demand.

  3. They're still useful... by bill.pev · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To avoid certain roaming charges [abroad]
    And, for contact with my clients wanting a dime bag or two.
    feel me?

    1. Re: They're still useful... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      I don't know about the rest of your post, but if you're paying 100$ for a quarter, you're getting screwed. A quarter is only worth 0.25$.

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      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re: They're still useful... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      Only if there was 100 dimes in the bag.

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      #DeleteFacebook
  4. Does this include prisons? by javakah · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My understanding is that there is some really questionable pricing/gouging for phone calls from prisons.

    I'm really wondering if calls from prisons are included as part of their numbers here.

  5. Re:Scale by ganjadude · · Score: 2

    really depends on upkeep costs today vs how long the phones have been there. some have been there for 20+ years

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  6. Obvious question... by geekmux · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What are the numbers for pagers/beepers like?

    1. Re:Obvious question... by ouachiski · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Higher than you would think. A lot of vending machines use them to report inventory to whoever is keeping them stocked.

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  7. Dur by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    How else are you supposed to get out of The Matrix?

  8. They are still around. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Southeastern US here, and people are saying payphones are almost extinct.

    It's not true though. Why, just the other day I heard a great whooping commotion in the back 40 late one night. Looked outside and there's a blue phone box. Wasn't there yesterday, so I suppose the phone company installed it. Strangely, as I looked, a good half dozen people came piling out of the thing. I have no idea how they all fit in there, unless they were maybe practicing for a world record or something. They all rushed off somewhere seeming to be in a huge hurry.

    Well, last night again there were a lot of odd whooping sounds and the phone box is gone now. I suppose the phone company must have installed it in the wrong location by accident and gone to move it wherever it should have been to begin with. Go figure. Not the most competent of folks.

    Point is: public phones are still around.

    1. Re:They are still around. by barbariccow · · Score: 2

      That's a police box. It's different than a pay phone.

    2. Re:They are still around. by barbariccow · · Score: 2

      You can watch on old Andy Warhol movies and the like, they used to have 3 slots for dime, nickel, or quarter. Each gave you a set amount of time. I searched for "old pay phone" on duckduckgo images and pretty well every picture is of this model. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/...

  9. I like 'em by HalAtWork · · Score: 2

    I don't want a cell phone but I still want to make the odd call

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