Nasty Public Phones Cost a Quarter More to Use
If you remember what it was like to have a pager, you probably remember using pay phones - those dusty remnants from the past that can still been seen around the city, usually broken or covered in a viscous goo.
There was a time, before cell phones and Facebook, when these machines were cleaner and used by urbanites all over Toronto.
With less demand, and what seem to be nastier phone booths, the CRTC has decided to allow phone companies to double the traditional 25 cent fee for local calls on public pay phones. They've also increased basic phone service rates for home lines and will uncap rates for extra services like call-waiting.
Now, this is not going to effect me directly - I don't have a land-line and have only used a cell for a long time. Still, I was surprised to see a full doubling in price for such a publicly accessible service. I'm assuming this increase, which starts in June, will be most annoying to Toronto's lower income citizens.
And if you're worried about getting screwed by your local phone company for a home line, come join the wireless phone world and learn to get screwed by mobile phone companies instead.
Photo from Wikipedia.
Comments (13)
What's worse... if you only have a loonie, that's what it costs. No change returned, even though the machine are technically capable. Now THAT is robbery.
Bell hasn't raised payphone rates in 26 years (1981), so if you do the math at an average of 3% inflation, the price should be around 54 cents instead of 50. Just something to consider.
This has been in the mail for a long time. Besides, with pretty much everyone in the world (except my roommates) having gone wireless, the move makes sense.
"Besides, with pretty much everyone in the world (except my roommates) having gone wireless, the move makes sense."
Except people who can't afford a cell - like me. The only people who will suffer from the phone booth price increase are the ones who can least afford it.
(writing from work, where I have net access )
The future of pay-phones is a little shaky (Finland was the first nation to ditch pay phones completely, although they are the home of Nokia).
I have a feeling that we're not going to ditch them here any time soon. At the same time, there has to be a better model for publicly accessible communication (something that's clean, affordable and useful to more than the dwindling number of non cell-phone users).
I hope this means they will at least fix the phones !! I was @ Queen West and Bathurst the other day and its almost impossible to find a payphone not rendered useless.
Also, I'm thinking this is just another mobile phone sponsored event ! .. Promoting cancer and chaos everywhere .. grr .. I'm not impressed.
when i wound up downtown at night recently with a dead cell phone i had the hardest time finding a pay phone anywhere. finally when i did the first phone was so full of static my bf couldn't hear me at all and the second phone (several blocks later) ate my last quarter.
i'd like to see cell phone companies here do as they do in Tokyo and offer a free charging station at all their stores. your phone gets locked securely in a little drawer and you come back within the hour to a fully charged mobile phone.
Great point, jay. That also explains why personal computers are selling for $10000 these days.
Scale economies are established as advances in technology are adopted, which is a reason why the price of personal computers have not increased.
Pay phones on the other hand have been jumped over by cell phones technology wise and no company is willing to invest in them anymore. Their use is on the decline.
I'm not saying i agree with the rate hike, especially for those who cannot afford it (as mentioned in earlier comments), but its just something to consider.
I've never owned an cell phone and will never own a cell phone -- and I use pay phones almost everyday! And considering the fact that cells are probably killing our honey bees and causing cancer all over the place, the fuckers should be LOWERING the cost of land lines.
i'll say that canada does have a stupid system for cellphones. way too expensive and inflexible compared to europe.
As for landlines.. why even bother? get a broadband phone.. its cheap and its great. u can even use skype.. there are so many alternatives now..hence the reason bell is raising their prices.. they have too much competition and are losing money with no hope of revival.
i think that our pay phones should be changed to card phones.. like every other payphone in the world.. who uses coins anymore? its easier and requires less labour.
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