The Me. PUC plans a Feb. 9 hearing on a proposal to set up a subs...
The Me. PUC plans a Feb. 9 hearing on a proposal to set up a subsidized public interest payphone service offering free intrastate phone calls. The Office of Public Advocate urged the program, calling public interest payphones essential in…
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emergencies, low-income areas and rural areas without good wireless service. The proposal would allow local officials and the public to petition for coinless public-interest phones at post office lobbies, transportation centers, highway rest areas, municipal buildings, health facilities and the like. Phones would provide free intrastate calling, with no limit on frequency or duration. Out-of state calls would require phone cards or credit cards. The program would be funded by a $50,000 subsidy from the state universal service fund that was authorized in a 2005 state law. Social service and welfare agencies back the idea as a way to ensure low-income people have access to phones. But the state’s 16 phone firms oppose it, saying the phones will get little use and maintenance costs likely will exceed the subsidy.