The return of pay phones? One US hacker wants to make it happen

Philtel cofounders Naveen Albert and Dank delivering a free pay phone to Iffy Books, where the first phone will be installed on Dec 17. — The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Part community service, part nostalgia, and part art project.

That’s how Mark Dank describes PhilTel, a project he is organising to bring old-fashioned pay phones to Philadelphia neighbourhoods – with a twist being that they will be free to use for calls in North America thanks to the Internet calling.