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A payphone or pay phone is a public telephone, with payment by inserting money (usually coins) or a debit card (a special telephone card or a multi-purpose card) or credit card before a call is made.
Payphones that accept coins have been largely discontinued in some places, due to the high occurrence of damage to the payphone caused by attempted theft of the money.
Payphones are often found in public places, transportation hubs such as airports or train stations, and on street corners but their popularity is falling due to the rise in cell phones and the general unprofitability of payphone service. The abandonment of payphones by telecom companies has angered some people who consider them a communication staple for low-income and low-credit consumers.
In recent years, deregulation has made possible payphone service provided by a variety of companies, such telephones are called "customer-owned coin-operated telephones" (COCOT). One common implementation is commonly operated by vending machine companies and contains a hardwired list of non-toll telephone exchanges to which it will complete calls.
Toronto payphones, abused by users with graffiti and bills. All payphones on the street and in buildings in Japan are exclusively installed and maintained by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT).
In the United States, the most common price for a local call in a payphone is fifty cents. This has risen in the last few years from the price of thirty-five cents, and doubled from the pre-deregulation price, which in some areas was 20¢ and others 25¢. Use of pre-paid calling cards at payphones often incurs a surcharge of double-minutes, which the FCC allows payphone operators to force calling card companies to reimburse them for.
See also: telephone booth, red telephone box, COCOT.
Internet access
A new version of payphone is one with SMS and internet access, see Internet#Public places to use the Internet.
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