CNN —
An “amateur phone collective” in Philadelphia is working to bring payphones back to the city — just without the actual payment.
PhilTel, a volunteer organization founded in June, plans to open its first free payphone December 17 at Iffy Books, a hacker-focused bookstore and workshop in the Center City neighborhood.
Mike Dank, one of the organization’s founders, told CNN that the project was inspired by an Oregon man who installed a payphone in his front yard. Known as FuTel, the project was surprisingly popular, prompting him to install more phones across Portland.
Dank said that while cell phones are widely available, not everyone has one — or is able to keep up with their phone payments. These free phones can help bridge the gap for people who need phone access.
“There are people who don’t have access to these resources,” he said. “There are people in domestic violence situations where a spouse is in control of their phone and yet they need ways to access people. So yes, there are people who need it.”
Dank said there are currently about 50 functioning payphones in Philadelphia. As payphones degrade and become obsolete, the communities that depend on them could be left in the dust.
“Maybe they had a payphone on their street corner that they’ve been using for the last 20 years and suddenly it’s gone,” he explained. “What are you going to do?”
Dank says the free phones will also add a touch of nostalgia in a rapidly digitizing world.
“It’s kind of a cool, nostalgic novelty” that lets users “relive the days when payphones were everywhere,” he said.
Dank calls the initiative, which is run on a voluntary basis, “half art project, half civil service”.
“It’s a kind of labor of love,” he said.
Iffy Books felt like a “natural first place” to install a phone because of the bookstore’s status as a “community waterhole” for hackers, artists, activists and engineers, he said.
“Then we’ll see how people use it, how people react to it, and hopefully generate more interest for more of this to be installed across the city,” he said.
In the future, PhilTel could install more phones in small businesses like bars, shops and marketplaces. They are also considering reaching out to payphone companies whose phones have expired, Dank said. PhilTel could offer to take responsibility for maintaining this existing payphone infrastructure.
Ultimately, Dank hopes to install a free payphone in every Philadelphia neighborhood so that “everywhere you are is maybe a 20-minute to a half-hour walk from one.”