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The Beginning of the End
December 30, 2005
THE ERA OF THE PAY PHONE is coming to an end for most Americans. What was once a valuable tool and an equally common fixture on the streets of America is now vanishing from the urban landscape. Cellular telephone coverage, however, has still eluded some of our country's more rural areas and there are people fighting to keep pay phones operational in their communities.
A recent article in the New York Times reveals that some small towns, such as South Ackworth, NH, have no other choice but to rely on their clumsy, dirty pay phone.
The phone (in South Ackworth) was the first in New Hampshire to be protected under a state law passed in July. The law sprang from the 1996 federal telecommunications act, which deregulated pay phones but allowed states to enact "public interest" laws to save endangered phones. At least eight states have similar laws, including New York, California and Maine, which also enacted its law this year.New York Times | New York, NY | 10/11/2005
The article is an excellent reminder that while wireless telephone coverage is as pervasive as shopping malls and fast food joints, the cellular telephone industry still has a ways to go before it can boast truly seamless, nationwide coverage. ■
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