Towns line up for pay phones

Staff and wire reports

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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Dozens of Maine communities seeking a pay phone for use in emergencies, including three in central Maine, may be in line for state assistance.

Under a new law, the state will pay for the installation and maintenance of 50 phones that will be available for local calls. Today is the deadline for towns to apply to the state Public Utilities Commission to take advantage of the program.

The Legislature approved the "public-interest pay phone program" in 2005.

A sponsor, Rep. Herb Adams, D-Portland, said telecommunication companies have sharply reduced the number of pay phones in Maine, from 8,200 in 1998 to only 4,300 in 2004, he said.

"We knew that, for a state like Maine, pay phones are not just a relic of small-town Maine, but a necessity of life, part of the landscape," Adams said.

"They're there for that emergency you hope you never have."

As of Tuesday, the PUC had received 39 applications, according to Marjorie McLaughlin, director of the commission's finance division.

She said applications have come from around the state. Among them are three central Maine towns:

n Mount Vernon, which is seeking one near the fire station.

n Sidney, which is asking for two, one near the Town Office, another near the town ball fields.

n Windsor, which wants one near Town Hall.

McLaughlin said the applications will be selected on the basis of public health, welfare and safety.

She said the PUC will contract with a company to install and maintain the phones.

McLaughlin said misuse of a free calling system is not expected to be a problem.

"No one really wants to take their phone out and walk down the street and use the phone on the corner," McLaughlin said.