By Mike Benbow
Herald Writer
EVERETT — The cost of a local pay phone call will rise from 35 cents to 50 starting Monday.
Verizon Communications Inc., which provides local phone service to Snohomish County and Camano Island, is raising prices at its 3,700 pay phones in Washington as part of a gradual conversion process involving 430,000 pay phones in 33 states.
Company officials say the reason for the increase is simple — pay phones aren’t profitable anymore.
"We want to remain in the pay phone business, but as you can imagine with the competition from wireless and dial-around 1-800 calling and prepaid cards, it’s severely tested our ability to retain a profitable pay phone business," said Melissa Barran, spokeswoman at Verizon’s Northwest headquarters in Everett. This allows us to stay in the business and to keep that part of our business profitable and viable at the same time."
Nationally, pay phone use has declined 23 percent during the last two years, Verizon officials said.
Pay phone operators Qwest Communications and SBC Communications raised the prices of local calls to 50 cents earlier this year.
Later this year, Verizon said it plans to test market 10-cent a minute local calls in certain areas in hopes of attracting pay phone users looking to make a quick call.
Also going up is the cost of dialing for local directory assistance help from a pay phone. That call, too, will rise from the current 35 cents to 50.
That increase affects only pay phone calls, not directory assistance calls from homes and businesses, Barran said.
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