[KLUG Advocacy] Re: Advocacy digest, Vol 1 #11 - 1 msg

[Adam Williams]

On Mon, 2002-05-06 at 13:09, bob@acm.org wrote:
> 
> It's not at all clear to me that there is a strong connection between
> the demise of the pay phone and deregulation. I think making such a
> connection is something of a glib oversimplification of what happened.
> While I was growing up (long before AT&T was busted, and certainly 
> before deregulation), payphone service and maintenance was going down-
> hill, and it's something I ascribe to other forces.

Payphones received subsidies under regulation.

http://www.thedigest.com/85/85-11.html
http://www.payphone-project.com/payphones/fcc/deregulation_of_att_payphones/

NPR had a very good page on the subject, but I can't find it now.

There was talk that new technology (wireless) would make the payphone
industry more competitive/efficient, etc...  But for whatever reason
that hasn't happened.

Since payphone are heavily used by lower income persons,  they are very
price sensitive.   Higher prices mean less use,  less use means less
motivation to maintain.  There was lots of talk about "Transformation of
public phones into public tele-information centers" and such, 
representing (IMHO) a complete misunderstanding of the typical payphone
user.
 
>I would really appreciate it if someone would stop and draw a map
>between these, so [even] I can understand what you're all grousing
>about. Given that pay phones have, in general, gone down the tubes,
>please provide some better causal explanation for all of this....