PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pay phones have been disappearing in Philadelphia thanks to the mobile phone, but some people simply can’t afford cell phones or may not have access to them in an emergency situation.
A new volunteer organization wants to serve the community by installing free pay phones in the city.
The volunteer collective PhilTel, which formed over the summer, plans to install its first free pay phone on Dec. 17 at Iffy Books in Center City.
“There are groups of people out there that don’t have access to cellular phones. Maybe they have a cellular phone, but they can’t keep up with the bills. Maybe they are low-income. Maybe they’re homeless. Maybe they are in a domestic violence situation and don’t have access to a phone,” said software engineer Mike Dank, a co-organizer of the group who said he has always had interest in telephone systems.
“These people are being more and more marginalized as existing pay phones disappear from our cities, so I really hope that this project will show people that there is still a need for pay phones out there and hopefully get them thinking about those people who may benefit.”
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PhilTel organizers consider the project half-art installation and half-community service. The group eventually wants to add more free pay phones in the city.
“Right now, everything is all just volunteer-funded through donations, so it will take some fundraising to get more equipment and well as forming relationships with people that are willing to host more phones,” said Dank.
Dank said anyone can use the service. Calls are limited to North America. There are no time limits, advertisements, or data being collected.
“We would never collect data or sell data, or listen to contents of calls, or do any sort of surveillance,” said Dank. “It’s all completely anonymous, completely private and we have no way of looking into what anybody is talking about.”