Remember when you could go just about anywhere town and find a litle black booth with a telephone symbol on it? Remember a time without cellphones, when the only way you could make a call was by finding such a booth? It seems like those days are soon coming to an end, as AT&T Inc. announced today its plans to exit the shrinking pay phone business by the end of 2008. Existing contracts and customer service commitments will continue to be honored during the period that the business is being phased out.
AT&T's Public Communications unit has continued to experience significant pressure from reduced pay phone usage, primarily as a result of the growth of alternative communications choices, such as wireless phones and personal communication devices. The company plans to phase out both public pay phones and phones provided under contracts at government correctional facilities through the end of next year. All customers will receive advance notification of specific plans as well as information on other potential providers and product options.
AT&T's Public Communications unit has continued to experience significant pressure from reduced pay phone usage, primarily as a result of the growth of alternative communications choices, such as wireless phones and personal communication devices. The company plans to phase out both public pay phones and phones provided under contracts at government correctional facilities through the end of next year. All customers will receive advance notification of specific plans as well as information on other potential providers and product options.
"This is the right time for us to take this step on behalf of our customers, employees and stockholders," said David Huntley, senior vice president for Customer Information Services. "We expect that independent providers will pick up much of this business, and, as we exit the business, we will be able to refocus our resources to areas that offer stronger growth potential and greater opportunity for the company."
News source: PR Newswire
Least the convicts are loosing the phones. They shouldent have them peroid.
but i think there should still be some around
They should still keep some around. However, this is not the end of pay phones. (We don't have AT&T payphones in Canada anyways).
I would call my home number from a pay phone. After the first ring, I would hang up, which was the signal
for my parents (before I had a license) to come and get me. Or, if I wanted to talk to me, I would let it
ring once, hang up, and call it back, let it ring once, hang up. Then my parents could call me back. They
had the payphone number, and the payphones back then would ring if you dialed one. I think the phone
company must have caught on to that little trick years ago by making it where you couldn't dial a lot of
pay phones...but by that time, who cares, just about everyone has a cell phone now.
I've heard one ring randomly at another mall before too.
mom says "no, thanks" and she comes and picks me up
this way WAYYYY back in the 90's
and my mom tried using a pay phone the other day in the mall and she said none of them worked because nobody uses pay phones anymore and they are not taken care of anymore.
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