2008 Woodie Awards
Pay phones removed from campus locations
Soni Kumar
Issue date: 7/30/08 Section: News
From now on students who forget their cell phones will be out of luck looking for a pay phone.
Director of telecommunications Dan Chase said all the pay phones have been removed on SIUE campus because AT&T no longer offers pay phone services.
"All the pay phones will eventually be removed if they are already not," Chase said.
According to a press release from AT&T, the company has decided to remove all of their existing pay phones and shut down the pay phone service completely by the end of this year. The AT&T public communications unit has experienced significant pressure from reduced pay phone usage, primarily because of a growth of alternate communication methods..
Kenneth Neher, vice chancellor for administration, said the phone company is most likely not making money from the pay phones because of the rise in popularity of cell phones.
According to the press release, pay phones in the United States have declined across the industry from about 2.6 million phones in 1998 to an estimated 1 million phones today.
"I guess it (is) kind of sad and bad that the pay phones are removed," junior pre-pharmacy major Maitri Desai said. "What if there is an emergency, and what if you have emergency, and what if you lost your cell phone and everything's closed down on campus? How (are) you supposed to get in contact?"
Sophomore biology major Christine Vu said she agreed that cell phones are a major cause to the shutting down of the pay phone service.
"If everyone has a cell phone, why should there be pay phones?" Vu said.
Even though AT&T is shutting down their pay phone service, other phone companies are still providing it.
The statement from AT&T said all present pay phone customers will receive advanced notification of specific plans.
Still, not everyone agrees with the removal of the pay phones.
"All the pay phones shouldn't be removed, there should be some left on campus for people who don't have cell phones," Desai said.
According to Chase, it is unknown if any pay phones will be reinstalled on campus in the future.
Director of telecommunications Dan Chase said all the pay phones have been removed on SIUE campus because AT&T no longer offers pay phone services.
"All the pay phones will eventually be removed if they are already not," Chase said.
According to a press release from AT&T, the company has decided to remove all of their existing pay phones and shut down the pay phone service completely by the end of this year. The AT&T public communications unit has experienced significant pressure from reduced pay phone usage, primarily because of a growth of alternate communication methods..
Kenneth Neher, vice chancellor for administration, said the phone company is most likely not making money from the pay phones because of the rise in popularity of cell phones.
According to the press release, pay phones in the United States have declined across the industry from about 2.6 million phones in 1998 to an estimated 1 million phones today.
"I guess it (is) kind of sad and bad that the pay phones are removed," junior pre-pharmacy major Maitri Desai said. "What if there is an emergency, and what if you have emergency, and what if you lost your cell phone and everything's closed down on campus? How (are) you supposed to get in contact?"
Sophomore biology major Christine Vu said she agreed that cell phones are a major cause to the shutting down of the pay phone service.
"If everyone has a cell phone, why should there be pay phones?" Vu said.
Even though AT&T is shutting down their pay phone service, other phone companies are still providing it.
The statement from AT&T said all present pay phone customers will receive advanced notification of specific plans.
Still, not everyone agrees with the removal of the pay phones.
"All the pay phones shouldn't be removed, there should be some left on campus for people who don't have cell phones," Desai said.
According to Chase, it is unknown if any pay phones will be reinstalled on campus in the future.
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