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.