Content area
Full Text
Dual pay phones adorn the outside exterior of a supermarket in Pinellas County, yet no shelves for handbags or notebooks exist.
Heavy phone directories, pages weathered and torn, dangle on metal cords and the cumbersome binding makes it difficult to read the inside-column phone numbers.
Meanwhile, many shoppers walk by them while talking on cell phones.
Now "redial" to Sept. 11, when shellshocked New Yorkers fined up at lower Manhattan pay phone terminals. They reportedly made nearly a million calls from Verizon Communications Inc. pay terminals during Sept. 11-21.
Many cell phones didn't work.
Are pay phones a dying breed, or do they mesh with today's wireless cellular world?
Bob Elek, Verizon marketing director, said his company believes the pay phone industry is alive and viable.
"Pay phones are part of the mix, and I don't think we are ready to abandon any particular form of telecommunication completely," Elek said. "It's nice to have options."
On Sept. 7, Verizon announced that local pay phone calls would rise to 50 cents per local call. The company operates 430,000 pay phones in 33 markets.
Verizon also plans to test 10-cent-a-minute calls in targeted markets to assess customer acceptance and its impact on revenue. Pay phones would be placed in high traffic areas such as commuter transportation hubs, schools and factory break rooms.