COCOTS: A short information article about the many manufacturers.

    There are many COCOT (Customer Owned Coin-Operated Telephone) manufacturers that existed in the North American market. In this small article I'll go over the top COCOT manufacturers and the more obscure ones. This doesn't go over the more technical side, check out http://www.payphone411.com for more technical info.

Please note; At the time of this writing, the Internet Archive is currently down so I'm limited on what images I can use. This will be updated later as the sites come back online.

Do you see those blue logo signs when driving on the freeway? Those establishments are supposed to have a working public telephone.

When driving down a highway, whether it be the Interstate, tollway, or US Route, you've probably seen these signs:

Source: palogo.org

15 years ago, it was expected that these establishments would have a public telephone for you to use. However, that's rarely the case anymore. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it is a requirement in 2024 for Camping and Gas establishments to have a working public telephone to bid to have your business placed on the sign. In New Jersey, even restaurants are required to have a working public phone. So that means every time you see a Wawa, Sheetz, McDonald's, Shell, etc by the Interstate, there's supposed to be a working phone there.

But is it enforced? Well, in Pennsylvania, the state rest areas (excluding the Turnpike) and parks do have working public phones but the majority of the gas stations don't. In New Jersey, don't expect any state or business to have a working public phone. But in other states that have the public phone requirement, sometimes you might find some gas stations and fast food establishments in Connecticut, Maine, or Massachusetts with a working public phone. So if you see a working payphone inside a Panera Bread in MA, that's why. Most of these payphones have been converted to cellular, so they're cheaper to maintain.

Working payphone inside PA Rest Area, I-95 N.

So why don't places like Wawa or McDonald's have a working public phone if they're supposed to have one by the advertising regulations? I don't know, however, my best guess is that allowing customers to use their desk phone could count as a public phone, filling in the requirement.

If your state requires these establishments that are advertising on the blue signs to have a working public phone, it could be a good opportunity to cash in on it. Pitch the property owner about the requirements, and offer a payphone or a free ad-supported public phone to the property. It could be an easy way to score a location.

Sample flyer

My evil plan of repopulating the Delaware Valley with payphones again.

I came up with a few ideas of making payphones money rakers again in the past, such as installing cellular hotspots or advertising on the sides of the payphone (like in NYC, Miami, NJ). My first idea was installing Helium Mobile cellular antennas on the top of my payphones. One great thing about outdoor payphones, is they have tall masts, VERY TALL in some cases. If you don't know what Helium Mobile is, it's a user-built cellular network that was gaining popularity. You can buy an antenna from them, and they'll pay you based on how much traffic and the location. Since I have a bunch of outdoor payphones with tall masts in a major city, I thought I hit the goldmine of locations.

Helium Mobile antenna concept

When the interest in installing antennas was at its peak, people were trying to figure out "Where the heck can I put this, and how can I convince property owners to let me install one?". Independent ATM Deployers (IAD) have already figured this out for indoor antennas, just stick one on your ATM. But what about outdoors? That's what stumped people, but not me. I had a network of outdoor payphones that would be great for this. But great things don't last long, from what I've heard the amount of money that you make from these antennas has tanked, so I scrapped this idea.

So, what's next? After hearing that the ACP was going to be phased out, I had a brilliant idea. If you don't know what the ACP is, it's The Affordable Connectivity Act. The purpose of the ACP was to help low-income citizens to have broadband access. But the ACP was also used for free cellular phones/tablets, think of it as Obama Phones on steroids. The amount of Free Wi-Fi hotspots in Philadelphia has been decreasing, either because they aren't maintained, turned off, or put behind a paywall. Xfinity now charges $20/mo for a pass, Optimum is exclusive to their subscribers only, and even McDonald's has been turning off their Free Wi-Fi.

So low-income citizens will lose their unlimited high-speed data on their cellular device, Wi-Fi hotspots have been decreasing, or put behind a paywall. I thought I could take advantage of this occurrence to cash in on this. 

My coin-op kiosk

So, I came up with the idea, why not start a coin-op hotspot operation? Let customers of a business, such as a pizza place or laundromat, deposit 5¢ for a few minutes of internet connection? Lifeline is providing them the voice minutes, but not the high-speed data. If my payphones can still rake in around $10/mo, and coin-op breathalyzers exist (that don't make much), I'm sure this service will bring in something.

Advertising on one of my payphones

But what does this have to do with payphones?

Because the company that makes these hotspots (Maxcomm/SOL) also produces these, A combo unit of a payphone and Wi-Fi hotspot.

Although they might look odd, they are payphones. These will work in the USA and are already popular in other countries such as the Philippines and Mexico. 

My plan is this:

1. Find a location to install my coin-op Wi-Fi hotspot. This will be the hardest part since I can't prove that it'll bring income.
2. Install the coin-op hotspot if I land a location (preferably a laundromat).
3. Let the hotspot do its thing, generate revenue for a month, and see how it does. If it does great, invest in it more.
4. Find another location, but this time with a payphone/hotspot unit. Since you now have proof that it generates money, this will make it easier to convince businesses to let you offer your service at their establishment.
5. Install the payphone/hotspot unit.
6. Repeat over and over again until all districts of Philadelphia are covered, and expand to Bucks County, Delaware County, Chester County, Trenton NJ, and Camden NJ.

I know charging for Wi-Fi might sound "evil" or inconsiderate, however, these people don't really have many options with the rapid decrease of free hotspots. Although, I still have to compete with Philly Community Wireless and LinkPHL. However, their expansion is slow so I'm not worried about it that much.

Since my hotspot will piggyback off of the business's ISP, I'm going to have to offer a commission. I'm currently thinking of offering 15% to 50% of profits depending on how much money the machine makes. The reason why I can't just do payphones is that these businesses are there to make money, not to provide convenience. Payphones don't make as much as they used to, so business owners won't have interest unless they're genuinely thoughtful or required by law. 

This project is something that I will continue to post updates on. Will it be successful? Probably not, but worth a try.

Concept instruction sign

Concept instruction sign

Concept instruction sign in Spanish

Craigslist ad

Also, a little fun fact, Maxcomm still makes GTE/Quadrum payphones. Although they're by special request only though. Meet the CX900:

EDIT 05/21/2024: I reached out to the manufacturer of the combo payphone & hotspot units and they've been recently discontinued. Maybe I could pitch in a combo deal of a fortress-style payphone and hotspot but wall space is a concern. 

Trenton NJ payphones (and some Bucks County PA payphones too) - May 13th, 2024

 After getting attacked by a goose on the Delaware Canal Trail, I decided to make a rest stop at Falls Township Community Park near Levittown PA. I know there were PTS payphones there, although they haven't functioned correctly since 2022. There are two payphones, one outside the concession stand which is located by the accessible playground and soccer field, and another at the restrooms of the inaccessible playground. The inaccessible playground payphone hasn't worked since around 2019, while the concession stand payphone had full functionality until early 2022, when the copper line was disconnected. 

But that wasn't the end of that payphone. Later in the year the dial tone was brought back, with a new phone number, (445) 225-9498. It was converted to cellular with T-Mobile and utilizes some 4G LTE ATA. However, it isn't perfect. The mic sensitivity is terrible, and the payphone programming has been reset to default. So, a local call costs a whopping $1.50. And if you try to make a customer service or calling card call, good luck. Looks like the anti-fraud keypad settings have been enabled.

Concession Stand payphone

Inaccessible playground restroom payphone

But around I think January 2024 the service has been cut from the phone. Although I guess it doesn't really matter since it can still complete 911 calls, which I assume was its original intention. But on my recent visit, the line has been brought back. So, if you want to pay $1.50 for a local call, you now can again. 

One good thing about it being defaulted, it now accepts incoming calls. Ring it and sometimes a kid from the playground will run up to it and answer.

Now heading into Trenton NJ, my first stop was the Trenton Transit Center which has nine payphones, eight which are working.

TTC Front Bank

TTC Rear Bank

All of them are PTS, which have been acquired from Verizon long ago. To my surprise, this station isn't that old as construction was completed in 2008. During this time period, maybe two or four would have done the job but Verizon decided that ten was needed (not complaining though). I'm glad that NJ Transit is responsible for these phones, as Amtrak would have ripped them out. 

Heading out, I decided to go around snapping payphones that I already knew were in place. The first one is this roman enclosure outside a Valero gas station

410 Greenwood Ave, Trenton, NJ 08609

I don't know when it was removed, but by 2011 it was gone. It appears it does have live power.

Next stop: checking up on the Roebling Market payphones.

Since my last visit, one of the handsets have been obliterated. These aren't in great shape; you can see that the base of the pedestals has rotted away completely. If it wasn't for being welded onto the I-beam, these would have toppled ages ago.

These were left behind by Jay Dee Telecom, member of IPANY. I don't know when these were disconnected, but I do know they still worked after 2011. FCC records show they went out of business in 2015. I did manage to get the current contact info for Jay Dee; however, he did not get back to me. I was hoping I could give it a shot in bringing these back to life. 

Next payphone: this lonely husk. I don't know when it was abandoned, but it was operational in 2008.

800 S Clinton Ave, Trenton, NJ 08611

After that, I discovered a new-to-me payphone, and to my surprise a T-Comm phone! I've seen two others of their phones near the Camden Aquarium. T-Comm, is a "Phony Bell". They attempt to replicate the Verizon placard styling, even using the Bell logo. If it wasn't for the dead-giveaway Quadrum housing, it could look legit from afar. 

1049 S Clinton Ave, Trenton, NJ 08611

1049 S Clinton Ave, Trenton, NJ 08611

My next payphone stop was to check on this guy, a no-name payphone. Trenton NJ has a lot of no-name payphones, which use the factory placards and has no owner information. This makes it difficult to restore since you can't track down the owner to get the keys from. 

1127 S Clinton Ave, Trenton, NJ 08611

1127 S Clinton Ave, Trenton, NJ 08611

After I went to go check on another payphone with a very nice aluminum pedestal. Unfortunately, another no-name payphone.

430 Emory Ave, Trenton, NJ 08611

This Shell has this lonely husk. Street View shows in 2008 there were four here, and in 2011 it has been replaced by one pedestal, a year later gone. Zooming into the color scheme of the placard, my best guess it could have been T-Comm. 

800 Greenwood Ave, Trenton, NJ 08609

My next stop was to check on three pedestals at one intersection. Before that, I came across this decaying ped. No info on it, even in 2008 it was like this.

1021 E State St, Trenton, NJ 08609

I arrived at the intersection of E State St & N Olden Ave, with these three pedestals nearby.

US Public Phones. Not much is known about them other than being out of business since 2002. Another "Phony Bell", as they try to replicate Bell Atlantic. 

No info.

Behind a liquor store. Payphone removed sometime after 2012.

Nearby I also found this guy at a laundromat, payphone removed after 2012.

558 N Clinton Ave, Trenton, NJ 08638

My next stop was to check on a few JFT Corp payphones, founded by John Tornese. JFT appeared to be a big guy, even having their own website and everything. They called it quits in 2009, but they're still active in the vending biz and ATMs. He also has a tax office in Allentown PA. I tried to reach him on Facebook Messenger with no luck. 

JFT @ 258 Parkway Ave, Ewing Township, NJ 08618

JFT @ 1017 Calhoun St, Trenton, NJ 08638

JFT @ 825 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Trenton, NJ 08638

Also spotted this payphone, left behind by Budtel, they operated in PA and NJ, mostly in Philadelphia, Lower Bucks, and Trenton. I own one of their payphones, which I found on FB Marketplace. They called it quits in 2013. Again, another "Phony Bell", trying to be Bell Atlantic.

102 Kirkbride Ave, Ewing Township, NJ 08638

Next payphone, this guy at a former gas station, now auto repair. I wanted to know who left it behind, which was Integrated Utilities LLC. I can't find much on them, but I do know two other phones of theirs left behind in the Burlington NJ area. 

544 Pennington Ave, Trenton, NJ 08618

Next is another no-name payphone. Why does Trenton have so many of these?

8 S Warren St # A10, Trenton, NJ 08608

And down the block there's a row of more no-name payphones outside Crown Fried Chicken. Streetview shows that these still had their handsets in 2008 even being used, but by 2011 their handsets were severed. I couldn't get a current photo due to a crowd, so I'll throw in this old photo. Nothing has changed. Nice roman enclosures though.

2 N Broad St, Trenton, NJ 08608, January 2022.

2 N Broad St, Trenton, NJ 08608, January 2022.

I wanted to check on more phones, but it was getting dark, and I needed to get home. I also wanted to take a look around the Trenton Library and Capital Center Mall (if they're still even open) to scavenge for any payphones. I also forgot to check on some Newtel's in Trenton and Lower Bucks.

So if you're ever in Trenton NJ and need to make a phone call, head to the TTC.

Introduction

I created this to document the state of payphones today and the surrounding areas. I've already been doing this for quite a while, but I only kept my findings to myself. I'll also post news of my own payphone fleet here.

I've been using payphones all my life, mostly around my early teens before the pandemic I would travel all around the Philly/Bucks region mostly relying on payphones to communicate, and a tablet with Google Voice in case there isn't any nearby. Living without a cell phone felt like true freedom. 

But then the pandemic hit. At first, it seemed that everything was going to be fine. But then the two largest PSPs in the Philly region, Newtel and Quartercall pulled out of the biz. In Philadelphia, there are now around 50 left, down from around 150 in 2021. 

When that happened, I decided to start my own fleet of payphones in 2022. At first, it's been going well but now it's starting to struggle, but I'm not giving up yet. 

I also maintain a map of active payphones in the region, which can be viewed here.

    -MG, owner of Bucks Co. Payphones.