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About 100,000 pay phones left in the United States, says the FCC
WCMH-TV ^ | March 19, 2018 | Joe Clark

Posted on 05/08/2018 11:16:30 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

There are still about 100,000 payphones here in the United States, according to the FCC, but their numbers are dwindling fast.

It's kind of like spotting a unicorn.

Apparently pay phones still exist in the United States and apparently people are still using them!

According to the FCC, there are approximately 100,000 pay phones throughout the country; about a fifth of them are in New York.

There were around 2 million in 1999.

Pay phones remain somewhat of a steady business, according to CNN. The FCC says providers reported a $286 million revenue in 2015.

However with rising audit costs, and more low-income Americans turning to prepaid cellphones, the industry's future appears bleak.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; History
KEYWORDS: communications; telephones
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I placed payphones back in the 1980's. Averaged $900 a day but some days I made many thousands of dollars.
1 posted on 05/08/2018 11:16:31 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I remember as a kid walking around the city checking every pay phone to see if there was any change in the coin return. I usually could find a few bucks a day, enough to get a good candy allotment for the day.


2 posted on 05/08/2018 11:19:18 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I remember back in the early 1980’s went the cost to make a call from a pay phone increased from 10 cents to 25 cents. Talk about alot of upset people!


3 posted on 05/08/2018 11:22:22 AM PDT by Dan in Wichita
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To: Dan in Wichita

Superman hardest hit.


4 posted on 05/08/2018 11:23:39 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Besides my phone booth I have 3 or 4 payphones.


5 posted on 05/08/2018 11:26:32 AM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
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To: All

This looks like an interesting article:

What Killed the Pay Phone?:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/object-lesson-phone-booth/515385


6 posted on 05/08/2018 11:26:58 AM PDT by beaversmom
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Can we still drop a dime on someone?


7 posted on 05/08/2018 11:27:28 AM PDT by ThomasThomas (Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

When all the phone booths disappear, where will Superman change?


8 posted on 05/08/2018 11:27:31 AM PDT by adorno
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To: Dan in Wichita

At least they worked......all the time.

I’ve never got a recording from a pay phone.....”Sorry, NO Signal”.


9 posted on 05/08/2018 11:27:36 AM PDT by EnglishOnly (Fight all out to win OR get out now. .)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The next countdown regarding phones, will be about when wired home phones will also disappear.


10 posted on 05/08/2018 11:29:01 AM PDT by adorno
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To: All

Rosemary’s Baby Phonebooth Scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwRmCGtWGaE


11 posted on 05/08/2018 11:30:28 AM PDT by beaversmom
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To: dfwgator

Used to do that. Get a couple quarters to play pacman. Also could do the paperclip trick.


12 posted on 05/08/2018 11:32:33 AM PDT by CJ Wolf (Tag, you're it.)
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To: All

Birds’ Phone Booth Scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D15HPy4x73g


13 posted on 05/08/2018 11:36:04 AM PDT by beaversmom
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To: dfwgator

I did that when I was a kid. I probably found change in a phone nearly as often as I didn’t. Usually only a few smaller shinies jingled into the bottom, but it always felt like you just won something.


14 posted on 05/08/2018 11:36:17 AM PDT by z3n
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To: All

Rainman phone booth scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXA9OIrerTs


15 posted on 05/08/2018 11:36:49 AM PDT by beaversmom
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To: adorno

The next countdown regarding phones, will be about when wired home phones will also disappear.
~~~
They didn’t?


16 posted on 05/08/2018 11:38:24 AM PDT by z3n
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To: z3n

When I was a kid working in a filling station the payphone screwed up and about 2 or 3 minutes after they hung up it would refund all the money they inserted. Sweet!


17 posted on 05/08/2018 11:42:18 AM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (Wisdom and education are different things. Don't confuse them.)
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To: adorno
When all the phone booths disappear, where will Superman change?
It's been a problem for years.



18 posted on 05/08/2018 11:42:58 AM PDT by Bratch ("The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke)
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To: beaversmom
Video: Phone booth scene from "Scanners."
19 posted on 05/08/2018 11:54:10 AM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
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To: z3n
They didn’t?

Not yet.

We don't have wired phones in my house, though the wires are still there.

But, give phone companies (and the government) enough time, and wired phones will be a thing of the past and illegal.
20 posted on 05/08/2018 11:58:36 AM PDT by adorno
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