Editing Payphone (section)

==Countries==

===Canada===
[[File:BellPayPhone3.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bell Canada]] payphone]]

Most payphones in Canada are owned and operated by large telecom providers such as [[Bell Canada|Bell]], [[Telus Communications]], and [[SaskTel]]. In the last 20 years, customer-owned coin-operated telephones (COCOT) have also appeared in the market, but their numbers are smaller due to the emergence of mobile phones.

The cost of most local payphone calls is 50 cents [[Canadian dollar|CAD]], having increased from 25 cents since 2007.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hopper|first1=Tristin|title=What the #!%*? Bell Canada looks to raise payphone rates 100%, again|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/what-the-bell-canada-looks-to-raise-payphone-rates-100-again|access-date=5 May 2015|work=National Post|date=3 April 2012}}</ref> Payphones in [[Alberta]] were 35 cents for a time, but in most jurisdictions the price simply doubled. Newer phones allow users to use calling cards and credit cards. For coin-paid long distance, COCOTs are less expensive for short calls (typically [[Canadian dollar|$]]1 for three minutes) than [[incumbent local exchange carrier|incumbent providers]] (whose rates start near $5 for the first minute).

Dialing 0 for the [[Switchboard operator|operator]] and [[9-1-1|911 calls]] are still free.

The [[Toronto Transit Commission]] deploys payphones on all subway platforms as a safety precaution; a blue "Crisis Link" button on 141 payphones connects directly with Distress Centres of Canada as a free [[suicide prevention]] measure.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thestar.com/news/ttc/2011/06/16/womans_mental_illness_inspires_ttcs_suicide_prevention_program.html | title=Woman's mental illness inspires TTC's suicide prevention program | newspaper=Toronto Star | date=16 June 2011 | first=Tess | last=Kalinowski | access-date=31 July 2016 }}</ref>

As of 2013, there were about 70,000 payphones across the country.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/03/08/phone-booths-are-down-in-edmonton-but-not-completely-out|title=Phone booths are down in Edmonton but not completely out|newspaper=[[Edmonton Sun]]|access-date=23 December 2014|date=8 March 2014}}</ref>

In 2013, the CRTC issued a temporary [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] on the removal of payphones in small communities.<ref name=gm15/>

In September 2015, the [[CRTC]] remarked that "32 percent of Canadians used a payphone at least once in the past year," and that they are used "as a last resort in times of inconvenience and emergency."<ref name=gm15>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadians-arent-ready-to-cut-cords-with-payphones-just-yet/article23221439/ rob: "Canadians aren’t ready to cut cords with payphones just yet"], 26 February 2015</ref>

===Germany===
The payphone model 23, introduced at [[Deutsche Bundespost]] Telekom in 1992, is an electronic software-controlled payphone for [[Analog transmission|analog connections]]. It is equipped with coin, ({{langx|de|Münzspeicherwagen}}), and integrated test program setting. It has a remote maintenance – the independent reports of a background system by means of an integrated modem error (for example, defects in components, lack of listeners), operating states (for example, full coin box), or departures (for example standing open the cartridge mounting door, missing coin).

The Payphone 23 consists of two basic units, the equipment part including all the necessary for the operation modules (BG) and the secured below the growing payphone cassettes with the coin box.

<gallery>
File:Pay phone in Munich 02.jpg|Payphone in [[Munich]], 2022
</gallery>

===Italy===
In [[Italy]], public payphones have been installed and maintained over the years by [[Telecom Italia]] (formerly SIP).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upgo.news/cabina-telefonica/|title=La storia, in breve, della cabina telefonica|language=it|trans-title=The history – in short – of the telephone booth|date=21 June 2018|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref>

Many public telephones were removed in the early 2010s, but there are still several thousand in operation throughout Italy.

From 26 May 2023, following an [[Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni|AGCOM]] decision, [[Gruppo TIM|TIM-Telecom Italia]] is no longer obliged to keep public telephones in service (but still has the option to do so). In hospitals, prisons, barracks and mountain refuges, the provision of public telephone services is in any case mandatory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rome |first=Wanted in |date=2023-05-27 |title=Italy hangs up its last public pay phones |url=https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/italy-hangs-up-its-last-public-pay-phones.html |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=Wanted in Rome |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:U+I pay phone (Italy).gif|Payphone model ''U+I'' from 1964 to 1982
File:G+M pay phone (Italy).jpg|Payphone model ''G+M'' from 1982 to 1987
File:TP rotor.jpg|Payphone model ''Rotor'' from 1987 to 2002
File:Telecom Italia pay phone Digito 01.JPG|Payphone model ''Digito'' since 2002
</gallery>

===Japan===
[[File:Payphone in kyoto japan.jpg|thumb|upright|Payphone booth in Kyoto, Japan, with figures etched into the glass]]

The majority of payphones on the street and in buildings in [[Japan]] are installed and maintained by [[Nippon Telegraph and Telephone]] (NTT).{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

===Russia===
In the [[Soviet period]], different types of payphones were produced. There were also [[long-distance call]] payphones costing 15 kopeks, and also provided services of paid media such as listening to an anecdote, obtaining legal advice, or finding the address of the subscriber by phone number. After the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]] and the [[Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1991|monetary reform of 1991]], this form of payment became irrelevant. Some payphones were altered to accept tokens, while others have been designed to use [[telephone cards]]. For example, in [[St Petersburg]], payment for payphones can be made with metro tokens. In some [[Subdivisions of Russia|regions]], calls from public phones are free of charge.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Spain===
Telephones were a monopoly of the national government in [[Spain]]. Payphones took a slug or ''ficha'', a piece of metal with two troughs in it, making it hard to counterfeit. Payphones were typically found in bars, restaurants, and stores, never freestanding. Phones would accept some five ''fichas'' at a time (the exact number varied depending on phone model), showing through a plastic window the number remaining, and return unused ones to the customer.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

An older and simpler system was to use a mechanical counter, the ''marcador de pasos'', which automatically counted units of time called ''pasos''. The duration of each ''paso'' depended on the distance of the call, and its cost could vary by time of day. At the conclusion of a call a human attendant would collect the appropriate payment. This system survived in small hotels at least until the 1970s.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Spain also had ''locutorios'' ("speaking places"), where a person could make and pay an attendant for phone calls. ''Locutorios'' diminished in the 21st century, as the country moved to [[direct distance dialing]] and [[Mobile phone|mobile phones]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Buck |first1=Tobias |title=Migration: The drain from Spain |url=https://www.ft.com/content/f7bdd5ce-995e-11e3-91cd-00144feab7de |access-date=December 25, 2023 |work=Financial Times |date=February 20, 2014}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
{{main|Red telephone box}}

The telephone service in Britain was run by the [[General Post Office]] (GPO), a state monopoly, which had taken over the [[National Telephone Company]] in 1912. Coin-operated payphones in Britain in about 1950 cost 2d (2 old pence) for a local call of unlimited duration. This eventually increased, and by about 1960 calls were timed, costing 3d for 3 minutes. Long-distance calls, connected by an [[Operator assistance|operator]], cost more. Telephones had a coin slot and two buttons, marked A and B. One or more coins had to be inserted and the number dialled. If answered, the call was enabled by pressing button A; if not answered, button B returned the coins.<ref>{{cite web | title=Costs of calls from British public phones, mid-20th century, section Person-to-person calls| website=The 1900s | url=https://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s50s-public-phones-costs.htm | access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref> Payphones later changed and the old A/B button design was dropped; prices changed over time.

The telephone system was privatised in 1984, operated by [[British Telecom]], still a monopoly. Phone cards were introduced for paying for calls. Payphones were later deregulated, no longer a BT monopoly. The great majority of them are still operated by British Telecom (BT) but other companies provide services, mostly in urban areas. [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], [[Manchester]], London, [[Cardiff]] and [[Glasgow]], at the turn of the 21st century, have a greater concentration of non-BT payphones, since BT has been removing many payphones which are unprofitable.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} The use of payphones declined greatly in Britain, as everywhere, with the explosive growth of mobile telephones.

;Kiosk adoption
BT allows local communities to adopt<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.payphones.bt.com/adopt_a_kiosk/HTML/payphone/index.htm |title=Adopt a Kiosk &#124; BT.com |publisher=Payphones.bt.com |access-date=31 July 2012}}</ref> the iconic [[Red telephone box|Red K6 Kiosks]] due to strong opposition to their removal from the communities that the kiosks reside in. This will mean the removal of the phone, leaving the empty kiosk in-situ.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.payphones.bt.com/adopt_a_kiosk/HTML/payphone/download.htm |title=Adopt a Kiosk &#124; BT.com |publisher=Payphones.bt.com |date=12 April 2011 |access-date=31 July 2012 |archive-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420190706/http://www.payphones.bt.com/adopt_a_kiosk/HTML/payphone/download.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

;Sponsored kiosk
Another option BT has provided is the sponsored kiosk,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.payphones.bt.com/adopt_a_kiosk/HTML/payphone/faq.htm#3 |title=Adopt a Kiosk &#124; BT.com |publisher=Payphones.bt.com |access-date=31 July 2012}}</ref> that will retain the phone service, and retain the kiosk for an annual fee of around £300 excluding VAT, whether it is the Red K6 or the newer aluminium and glass kiosks that cannot be adopted.
[[File:BT Logic - geograph.org.uk - 762992.jpg|alt=A typical BT payphone in Scotland|thumb|A typical BT payphone in [[Scotland]]]]
'''Payphone types'''

Due to disability discrimination law, specifically the [[Disability Discrimination Act 1995]], in the past payphone providers were required to provide a certain number of [[Telecommunications device for the deaf|textphone]] payphones as part of their network, as this was deemed a "reasonable adjustment" for deaf customers. These phones can also make voice calls, as well as send [[SMS]] and [[Email|e-mail]] messages, and although this requirement is no longer in force due to minimal use of the textphone feature in these phones, many of these devices remain in service, generally in populated areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1999-07-27/debates/7927b0aa-02f6-4613-8ff7-3b36c3594d76/Textphones|title=Textphones – Hansard|website=hansard.parliament.uk|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref>

In addition, in the early 2000s BT installed a large number of 'Multiphones' that provided internet access, on top of voice, SMS, and e-mail functionality.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jul/25/marketingandpr.bt|title=BT in payphone boost|last=Day|first=Julia|date=25 July 2001|work=The Guardian|access-date=20 December 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.marketingweek.com/2000/08/17/bt-unveils-text-payphone-drive/|title=BT unveils text payphone drive|date=17 August 2000|website=Marketing Week|language=en-GB|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/395433.stm|title=BBC News {{!}} Sci/Tech {{!}} Payphones go online|last=Nuttall|first=Chris|date=15 July 1999|website=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref> These payphones provided these services through the use of a 2-channel [[Basic Rate Interface|ISDN2]] connection, a [[QNX|QNX-based]] operating system, and a [[touchscreen]] interface to allow the user to browse websites and receive e-mail messages on a pay-per-minute basis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/3704/bt-launches-multiphone-the-phone-box-of-the-future/|title=BT LAUNCHES MULTIPHONE – THE PHONE BOX OF THE FUTURE|date=15 July 1999|website=ResponseSource Press Release Wire|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/1999/jul/22/onlinesupplement5|title=Dialling up the future|last=Schofield|first=Jack|date=22 July 1999|work=The Guardian|access-date=20 December 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/bt-launches-free-public-internet-access/12686|title=BT launches free public internet access|last=Banbury|first=Louise|date=17 January 2001|website=www.campaignlive.co.uk|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref> However, these devices have since been removed due to quickly becoming obsolete, often with the ordinary payphone previously installed in that location taking its place once again.

;Cost

From 1 June 2010, BT payphones have a £0.60 minimum charge which is for the first 30 minutes of any direct-dialled national geographic call. Previously the minimum charge was £0.40 for the first 20 minutes of any direct-dialled national geographic call. Then before November 2006 the minimum charge was £0.30, before 2004 it was £0.20 and before 2000 it was £0.10. Credit/debit cards can also be used, and many BT payphones have card readers for this service; however, calls made using a card are charged at a significantly higher rate than calls made using cash.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.payphones.bt.com/publicpayphones/paymentprices.htm |title=Payphones and Calling Cards from BT – Public payphones – payment prices |publisher=Payphones.bt.com |access-date=31 July 2012}}</ref>

BT Phonecards purchased from participating retailers were introduced in 1981, and could be used in most BT payphones to pay for calls. Cards originally used an optical system to register credit, changed to a chip-based system in the 1990s, and were withdrawn in 2003.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2016366.stm|title=R.I.P. Phonecards|date=30 May 2002|work=BBC News|access-date=20 December 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>

In the past, a BT Chargecard could be used from any UK landline to charge any telephone calls made to the cardholder's BT home telephone account, with no charge to the landline the card was being used from.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.payphones.bt.com/callingcards/selector.htm|title=payphones.bt.com|date=21 October 2011|publisher=payphones.bt.com|access-date=25 April 2014}}</ref> These were most commonly used in payphones, and some BT payphones had dedicated readers for these cards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bt-scraps-phonecards-after-slump-6303851.html|title=BT scraps phonecards after slump|last=Allen|first=Richard|date=28 May 2002|website=Evening Standard|language=en|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref> This service was discontinued in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bt.com/pricing/current/Call_Charges_boo/2-0450_d0e1.htm|title=Section 2:Call Charges & Exchange Line Services Part 3:BT Postpaid (BT Chargecard, BT Odyssey, BT Adventure) – These products were withdrawn on 1st March 2018|website=www.bt.com|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref> Other cards which are often used instead include supermarket international calling cards and many other telephone cards which can be bought from [[Newsagent's shop|newsagents]].

Although 0800 and 0808 numbers are free to the caller when dialled from most payphones, the owner of the number called must pay a 'Payphone Access Charge' (PAC) which has increased significantly in recent years, and is currently £0.79 per minute if their number is called from a payphone. This has led to many businesses, and even calling card providers,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.postoffice.co.uk/international-phonecards|title=International Phonecards – Excellent Rates {{!}} Post Office|website=www.postoffice.co.uk|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref> barring calls to their freephone numbers originating from payphones. Charity helplines are exempt from this charge if called from a BT payphone, however this exemption does not apply to calls made from payphones owned by other providers, and in these cases the charity must pay the PAC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://helplines.org/news/an-end-to-payphone-access-charges-for-helplines/|title=An end to Payphone Access Charges for helplines|last=Ojok|first=Paula|date=20 April 2015|website=Helplines Partnership|language=en-US|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref>

;Cost examples (from BT coin-operated payphones)

There is a £0.40 connection charge, in addition to the "per minute" charges shown below, and a minimum charge of £0.60.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bt.com/pricing/current/Call_Charges_boo/3545_d0e5.htm#3545-d0e5 |title=BT Price List |publisher=Bt.com |access-date=25 April 2014}}</ref> Some payphones also offer SMS and e-mail service,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.payphones.bt.com:80/publicpayphones/payphones.htm|title=Payphones and Calling Cards from BT – Payphones|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220162303/http://www.payphones.bt.com/publicpayphones/payphones.htm|archive-date=20 February 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref> both charged at £0.20 per message.<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Call prefix
! Type of call
! Seconds per £0.10 block
! Cost per minute
|-
|0800/0808/116
|Freephone
|Free to caller
|Free to caller
|-
| 01/02/03
| Landline (local/national)
| 900
| £0.0067
|-
| 07 (most)
| Mobile
| 9.5
| £0.63
|-
|070/076
|PNS/Pagers
|3
|£2.00
|-
|0845
|Non-geographic ('Special Services') – 'Lo-Call'
|30
|£0.20
|-
| 0870
| Non-geographic ('Special Services') – 'National'
| 12
| £0.50
|-
|09
|Premium-rate services ('PRS')
|1.5
|£4.00
|-
|123
|Speaking clock ('Timeline')
|5
|£1.20
|}

===United States===
[[File:1C Payphone - Bell System, Made by Western Electric, July 1979.png|thumb|upright|1C Payphone - Bell System, Made by Western Electric]]

"Dead-heads"--non-subscriber users who make a call at a place of business and do not pay for it--may have influenced the development of the payphone. The Wisconsin Telephone Company in 1893, for example, attempted to put an end to this practice by implementing ten-cent coin slots so that users had to pay for the call. The idea behind this was to reduce the financial stress a smaller business may face from having dead-heads.<ref>{{Cite news|date=17 December 1893|title=No More Dead-Heads|work=Milwaukee Daily Sentinel}}</ref>

Payphones were preceded by pay stations, staffed by telephone company attendants who would collect rapid payment for calls placed. The Connecticut Telephone Co. reportedly had a payphone in their New Haven office beginning 1 June 1880; the fee was handed to an attendant. In 1889, a public telephone with a coin-pay mechanism was installed at the Hartford Bank in [[Hartford, Connecticut]], by the [[Southern New England Telephone Company|Southern New England Telephone Co]]. It was a "post-pay" machine; coins were inserted at the end of a conversation. The coin mechanism was invented by [[William Gray (inventor)|William Gray]]; he was issued a series of patents for his devices, beginning with {{US patent|454470}} issued 23 June 1891 for a "Signal Device for Telephone Pay-Stations" which rang a bell for each coin inserted. He subsequently founded the Telephone Pay Station Co. in 1891.<ref name=Robertson2011>{{cite book|last=Robertson|first=Patrick|title=Robertson's Book of Firsts|year=2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1608197385}}</ref> The "pre-pay" phone debuted in Chicago in 1898.<ref name=Newton2006>{{cite book|last=Newton|first=Harry|title=Newton's Telecom Dictionary|year=2006|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=1578203198|page=687}}</ref>

In the late 1920s, the cost of a payphone call in the United States was two cents. In the 1930s, calls were five cents; the cost of a typical local call had risen to 10 cents by the 1960s, 15 cents during the 1970s, then 25 cents in the 1980s. By the early 21st century, the price of a local call was usually fifty cents. The rise of [[mobile phones]] led to the near extinction of payphones by the early 21st century. [[New York City]], which once had 30,000, removed its last public payphone in 2022.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last1=Sharp |first1=Sarah Rose |title=NYC's Last Public Pay Phone Is Now a Museum Artifact |url=https://hyperallergic.com/741920/nycs-last-public-pay-phone-is-now-a-museum-artifact/ |access-date=23 July 2022 |work=Hyperallergic |date=June 22, 2022}}</ref>

The [[Bell System]] payphone took nickels (5¢), dimes (10¢), and quarters (25¢); a strip of metal along the top had holes the size of each coin. The US slang term "{{linktext|drop a dime}}" means to [[Informant|inform the authorities]] about another person, originally by placing a call from a pay phone. It can also refer to the placing of a phone call for social purposes. The term has risen in popularity in the US since the 1980s, and is still in use since 2000, despite the price increase of pay phones and the rise of mobile phones.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Osmond |first1=Candace |title=Drop a Dime (or Dropping Dimes) - Origin & Meaning |url=https://grammarist.com/idiom/drop-a-dime/ |access-date=December 25, 2023 |work=Grammarist |date=November 25, 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Verizon payphone on a street corner (United States) pd.3.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A [[Verizon]] payphone on a street corner in [[Silver Spring, Maryland|Silver Spring, MD]]]]

Payphone calls generally cost 5¢ into the 1950s and 10¢ until the mid-1980s. Rates standardized at 25¢ during the mid-1980s to early 1990s. The Bell System was required to apply for increases through state [[Public utilities commission|public service commissions]]. Therefore, the actual increases took effect at different times in different locations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/12/14/bell-pushes-25-cents-as-nationwide-pay-phone-rate/4f7219ce-b1be-415f-a88f-0f219f3d23e8/|title=Bell Pushes 25 Cents As Nationwide Pay-Phone Rate|last=Sinclair|first=Molly|date=14 December 1981|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=28 June 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Yarrow|first=Andrew L.|date=October 19, 1992|title=Goodbye, Dime Call?; 25-Cent Toll Sought in Connecticut|language=en|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/19/nyregion/goodbye-dime-call-25-cent-toll-sought-in-connecticut.html|access-date=28 June 2018}}</ref> The small town of [[Beggs, Oklahoma]] attracted national attention in the late 1970s when public payphones offering calls for only five cents had been essentially phased out across the country, but Beggs still had one.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/21/archives/fivecent-phone-calls-ending-in-louisiana.html |title=Five-Cent Phone Calls Ending in Louisiana |newspaper=The New York Times |date=21 December 1978 |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1988&dat=19770820&id=nWciAAAAIBAJ&pg=5097,4472112 |title=Deposit One Nickel, Please |work=The Argus-Press |date=20 August 1977|access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref> As of 2020, Beggs still has a nickel payphone, maintained in front of the Beggs Telephone Company office.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.beggstelco.net/ |title=Home Page |publisher=Beggs Telephone Company |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref>

After the [[breakup of the Bell System]] in 1984, it was not long before independent stores selling telephones opened up. After that, privately owned payphones hit the market. Sources differ as to whether the peak number of payphones in the United States was 2.6 million in 1995<ref>{{cite web|author=CHRISTIAN BERG |work=Morning Call |url=https://www.mcall.com/2001/03/18/pay-phones-reached-their-peak-in-95-slot-design-to-neighborhood-store-they-served-america-well/ |title=Pay phones reached their peak in "95 – Morning Call |publisher=Articles.mcall.com |date=18 March 2001 |access-date=10 April 2014}}</ref> or 2.2 million in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|author=Howard Yune |url=http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/pay-phones-forgotten-but-not-gone/article_6cf4ba4c-f48d-11e1-97c6-0019bb2963f4.html |title=Pay phones: forgotten but not gone |publisher=Napavalleyregister.com |date=1 September 2012 |access-date=10 April 2014}}</ref> Since then the number of payphones in the United States has declined. In July 2009, [[AT&T]] officially stopped supporting the Public Payphone service. Over 139,000 locations were sold in 2009. At the end of 2012, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) reported the number of payphones at 243,487<ref>{{cite news 
| url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/17/pay-phone-decline/4049599/ 
| title = As pay phones vanish, so does lifeline for many 
| date = 17 December 2013
| newspaper = USAToday}}</ref> generating $362 million – falling to $286 million by 2015.<ref>{{cite book|title=Universal Service Monitoring Report|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|page=8|url=https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-343025A1.pdf|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref> The major carriers, AT&T and [[Verizon]], exited the business, leaving the market to independent payphone companies.<ref>{{cite news | first = Greg | last = Bensinger | title = Era ends as Verizon drops most of its pay phones | date = 12 October 2011 | publisher = MarketWatch, Inc | url = http://www.marketwatch.com/story/era-ends-as-verizon-drops-most-of-its-pay-phones-2011-10-12 | work = [[The Wall Street Journal]] Market Watch | access-date = 23 January 2013}}</ref> In 2018, it was estimated 100,000 payphones remained in the U.S., with roughly a fifth of them located in New York.<ref>[https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/19/news/companies/pay-phones/ "There are still more than 100,000 pay phones operating in the US"]. Retrieved 19 March 2018.</ref> Four years later, NYC removed its last public one, though some private pay phones remained on public property, and four full-length booths still stood on the Upper West Side in May 2022.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-10-25 |title=Upper West Side Is Home To NYC's Last 4 Phone Booths |url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-west-side-nyc/upper-west-side-home-nycs-last-four-remaining-phone-booths |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=Upper West Side, NY Patch}}</ref>