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Pay phones provide a lifeline

REBECCA DUBE

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 4:29 PM EDT 04/05/07

Is a pay-phone rate hike the telecommunications equivalent of a tree falling in a forest with no one around to hear it?Read the full article

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  1. Robert MacDonald from Canada writes: Ahhhh yes, wouldn't it be nice to own a monopoly? Charge what you want, steal more money from the poor to pay for your new porsche. What a wonderful world we live in
  2. M K from Canada writes: Prices have not gone up since 1981 but costs have. Welcome to reality.

    If you are concerned about emergency situations where your cel phone quits and you need help, just carry 50 cents wherever you go. It's not rocket science.

    Tempest in a teacup.
  3. N. M. from Mol, Belgium, Canada writes: And just what costs have gone up, MK?
  4. Enzo Campini from Montreal, Canada writes: The first two posts are both correct. But we need to ask whether it would not be a bad idea for wealthy corporations to keep prices as they are, for the sake of providing a service to the public despite no gain in profit. Whatever happened to having a civic sense? And Bell Canada is hardly going bankrupt, after all.
  5. george mcflew from Canada writes: since cellphones became so popular, payphones have been dissappearing left right and centre. The ones that remain are frequently out of order and instead of maintaining them are removed completely.

    When fido charges me 25 cents a minute, why wouldn't I want to use a payphone and talk for as long as I need for the same price?... but just try to find one that works....
  6. Johnny Red from Canada writes: MK I doubt the costs go up when Bell owns the booths and the telephone grid it sits on.

    This isn't a huge difference, but in the interest of keeping customers happy, they should keep it at $0.25
  7. stand up mimi from Canada writes: Pay phones are a miniscule part of the business, so the increase in profits will also be miniscule. The reason they are doing this is so that more people will use cell phones. If it costs more to make a quick call on a pay phone than a cell phone, people will use the cell. Servicing pay phones is apparently a bother to them as well, since they're often out of order. I would be surprised if pay phones don't all but disappear in the next few years. So much for phones being a public service.
  8. instant karma from burlington, Canada writes: Robert MacDonald --- There has been competition in the payphone business for years. There's no monopoly on it, however, since there's not a rush of companies looking to get into the business, I guess it must be a bad investment. Enzo Campini --- where's the Roger's payphones? Judging by their just announced wireless profits and following your logic they should be in the payphone business big time! The reality is wireless is replacing the need for payphones. Sure there are still segments of society that rely on them, but I'm not sure how we can expect one profit oriented company in the telecommunications industry to provide these services without a return on their investment but not all of them. I would argue that 911 is a service to the public and we pay for it monthly. How often does the average person use 911? Maybe communities that feel it is a public benefit to have a payphone should pay for it themselves and provide it free of charge to users.... Would you accept a small increase in your property taxes or a slight increase in your internet/cell/cable/landline bill to provide this service? If not, well to use Robert's words, "what a wonderful world we live in".
  9. E J Doran from London, ON Canada, Canada writes: " Prices have not gone up since 1981 but costs have. Welcome to reality."

    I remember as a child/adolescent/student in the pre-'81 years, my parents admonished me to "never leave the house without a dime in case you need to call home". At that time a payphone call, a chocolate bar, a pack of gum or an ice-cream novelty each cost 10¢.
    Today, 50¢ to use a payphone is a relative bargain as each of these items costs over $1.

    My concern with payphones is that their condition is permitted to deteriorate by the owner/operator, technically and esthetically. Many are broken, filthy or decrepit and in need of replacement.

    When payphones were deregulated in the USA, the providers allowed them to deteriorate to the point where consumers wouldn't (or couldn't) use them. As these phones didn't cover their costs, they could be removed. So, If increasing the cost/call permits payphones to be maintained in a clean, functional manner I'm all for it.

    My local library was recently renovated, and a payphone installed at the entrance. Its frequently used by kids and more often than not is out of service as the coin box is full! Curiously, there's no rush to install a second payphone at an obviously high-demand location.

    Mobile phones aren't the only reasons payphones are losing revenue. The popularity of long-distance phone cards and the widespread use of toll-free numbers has taken a big bite out of a payphone's take.

    Does anyone know what happened to those Bell "Quickchange" stored-value payphone "chip" cards?
  10. Matt Goulet from Winnipeg, Canada writes: M K from Canada: You can dial 911 on any cell phone, regardless of anything. No contract, no minutes, no problem. Though, I hear that you still require a charged battery.
  11. Globe Insider subscriber content
    jiri Z from Canada writes: I feel so sorry for the "poor" who will be hit hard by this huge increase.

    Except that I see lots of "homeless" and "disadvantaged" citizens with cell phones in their ears.
  12. Remain Nameless from Ottawa, Canada writes: The writer forgot to mention that all the people on the street she interviewed that were crying about an extra quarter, for a phone call twice a year, were sipping on $4 cups of coffee from Starbucks.
  13. Helena Kroemer from toronto, Canada writes: This article reminds me of why I broke up with my ex-sucker-boyfriend, who called me from pay phones wherever he was (the subway, the bus stop, the whatever). That sucker even called collect when he didn't have quarters. I couldn't stand him after us into one month dating.
  14. S W from canada, Canada writes: 25 cents per use, now 50 cents. Salaries haven't lept up 100% over the last several years. Where are the costs that justify it? And shouldn't there be at par service with the past or better for that raise?, not a broken phone at many phone booths? Just asking.
  15. Garemi Hussey from Havecoins, ON, Canada writes: Cell phones have nothing to do with this. If the federally-mandated provincial system operators are required to ensure some minimum level of public phone facility, given this recent review, one should reasonably expect present service levels are compliant . The critical issue is public telephones must remain available, in positions and sufficient quantity according to some national communal standard. The "fee for service" is subject to CRTC regulation and thereby must be recognized appropriate as allowed. I'd be far more concerned if we were confronted by timed local toll charges at public telephones.
  16. Ken Cowan from Paris, France, France writes: Before cellphones came on the scene, Toronto had pay phones everywhere. Not only that, but the pay phones were often very stylish - so much so that I even have a picture of myself using one because the pay phones were so cool. Once cellphones arrived, suddenly pay phones that I had always counted on disappeared. There used to be three at the corner of Church and Wellesley...there are none there now. Anyone who really needs 911 will die nowadays before they can find a pay phone somewhere in the area. The only possible reason for this state of affairs is that "they" want people to buy cellphones...by getting rid of the pay phones what other choice do we have? It is all a question of creating and exploiting a market.
    And it is an attitude which stinks. Here in Paris there are pay phones at almost every intersection on main roads. If Toronto wants to be a "world class city" they will have to start realizing that it is conveniences such as public telephones and public washrooms that make a difference!
  17. Peter Walker from Calgary, Canada writes: Just where does the "NOW 25 cents" come in?
    In Calgary it has been 35 cebts for quite a while.

    I do not have a cell phone, nor do I want one. I am also quite upset at the people who use their cell phones all over the place to have arguments on them for everybody to hear!!

    SCREW cell phones, and those that play movies, have cameras and games etc.
    I can't afford one, and as I said, I don't want one.
  18. Sullivan Cromwell from Victoria, Canada writes: Yep, leave it at 25 cents a call, and when you have an emergency, good luck finding a phone. Call me crazy, I would rather pay 75 cents and know that there'll be a phone around, then 25 cents and have one in the city. Consumer "advocates" should wake up and observe how the real world works.
  19. Bernard Samson from Calgary, Canada writes: Peter Walker (also from Calgary!) you are quite right. Telus has charged 35 cents for local pay phone use for years (if you can even find a pay phone, but that's another rant). So where is the CRTC in enforcing its approved rate of 25 cents? Useless bunch of bureaucrats wasting my tax dollars, not even enforcing its own regs. How about some pro bono legal work obtaining a writ of mandamus?
  20. D Preston from Canada writes: Twice in the last 3 years I've had to call 911 and there wasn't a phone booth in site. Each time I had to track down someone with a cell phone. 50¢ is still a bargain for an unlimited length of time call.
  21. BC Guy from Canada writes: The condition for increasing the charge for calls from pay phones should be an increase in the number of available pay phones. The phone companies make obscene profits from their cell phone business. They can afford to provide more pay phones as a public service, and they should be required to do so. I have been frustrated many times recently because pay phones that I had once counted on have disappeared. The rates charged for cell phones use in Canada put cell phones beyond the reach of many people.
  22. Dano Garv from Hamilton, Canada writes: Jeez what a bunch of crying this is. It's a damned extra quarter. Everything else has gone up in price but for all my life payphones have been 25 cent, put the effort into crying about gas prices guys, at least that is somthing to cry about. What if payphones had increased in cost every year by a penny? Nobody would have minded much and we'd be over 50 cent now. Maybe the phone companies should take a page from the gas prices, jack a payphone up to $1.00, keep it there a bit and let people be outraged and then lower it to 50 cent.
  23. Brian G from Whitby, ON, Canada writes: Who doesn't have a cell phone anymore anyways? Don't want one? Tough! 30 years ago you didn't need a university degree to work in a cubicle for the rest of your life. Now you do. Who cares about 25 cents?

    If Bell actually starts makinga profit on phone booths they might put more back up. As for civic duty, I don't know why everyone still expects corporations to have any. Have we learned nothing? Business is business, nothing more.
  24. Barry Kojima from Hamilton, ON, Canada writes: I can't recall the last time I used a pay phone for a call that lasted more than 1 - 2 minutes. But I do recall many instances where I've had to wait for a pay phone because someone was carrying on an extended conversation about the colour of the shoes they were wearing or arguing with a their partner.

    Perhaps a time limit followed by an additional per minute charge might be the answer.

    Public pay phones should be regarded as a necessity, not as an extension of your personal social network. If you feel the need to yammer incessantly, meet in person or use your home/cell phone.
  25. Frankie @^_^@ from Canada writes: HAHAHA now you will all know what deregulation is all about. ALL different services will go UP UP UP. EG> call display, information, pay phones etc, etc,. You will not get something for nothing. NOW WE WILL ALL BE NICKELED AND DIMED TO DEATH...AND SOMETIMES EVEN GOUGED.
  26. Eric B from Ottawa, Canada writes: "" S W from canada, Canada writes: 25 cents per use, now 50 cents. Salaries haven't lept up 100% over the last several years. Where are the costs that justify it? ""

    Actually, since 1981 salary have gone up 100%...real estate has probably gone up 300%, etc... Someone also mentioned cost have not gone up for Bell - do you think the guys that fix the phone get paid the same as in 1981? Do you think Bell pays the same gas prices as 1981 to drive there? Come on guys, the biggest shock here is that the price isn't going up to a dollar, an even loonie...which would be well justified.
  27. Globe Insider subscriber content
    Jane Benn from Canada writes: If the cost of using payphones had kept up with the CPI, we would be paying about 55 cents, so 50 cents is a bargain. While I do think payphones (real, functional and readily available payphones) should be available as a public service, I see no reason, in these days of competition even for home phone service, why we should expect a single company to subsidize them. Either allow them to charge an amount which at least does not lose them money, or subsidize them with public money. We could charge everyone 1 cent or 5 cents or whatever it took, additional on their phone bills to obtain the money to do so.
  28. Paul Aparycki from St. Jean sur Richelieu, Canada writes: While I would be the last to defend our communications giants, I do feel that even at $0.50, the pay phone is a bargain. After all, if you are inclined, you can get on one, pay your 4 bits and jabber away for hours, or days if you have strong lips. No cell phone would let you do that for that kind of money (many will squawk about "free" minutes . . . they aren't, you pay for your "free" minutes). The issue about poor people is one of concern though and I don't really know how to address that point. The other more important issue about why we should not get rid of the phone booth is that of crime. If we phase out the phone booth . . . what will Superman do?
  29. gordon foster from Canada writes: For the curious out there, pay-phone calls here in South Korea start at 70 won, or about 9 cents. Then you pay more in 70 won increments for additional time. I don't ever think I've spent more than 420 won (about 50 cents) on a pay-phone call here, but then again I'm generally calling cell phones, not answering machines. Oh and by the way, the cell-phone users who are receiving my calls don't pay a thing!
  30. gordon foster from Canada writes: Regarding other price increases since 1981, I seem to recall paying 14 dollars for twenty TTC tokens as recently as 1984. How much are they now?
  31. gordon foster from Canada writes: Ken Cowan: payphones AND public toilets at Church and Wellesley? Now that's really world class. Be sure to wear your wellies.
  32. Sean Flynn from Montreal, writes: Strange that no one takes into consideration the maintenance costs and what I would assume are greatly reduced revenues - that alone would justify an increase. And please, if it's a real emergency, don't you think that there would be someone nearby with a functional cellphone? Pay phones exist as a convenience. Besides, people spend too much time on the phone anyway.
  33. Big Red from Montreal, Canada writes: Disposible calling cards work on pay phones. The rates are less than 5c/min and no need to deposit any coins since you make the call using a 1-800 number. For pay phone call lasting less than 5 minutes this is by far the cheapest route - and as an added bonus, the call can be to any number in North America at the same rate!
  34. carol c from Tronna, ON, Canada writes: 'since 1981 salary have gone up 100%'

    Eric, where do you work? I might apply there myself.

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