DILLINGHAM -- Bristol Bay residents, or at least those who don't own cell phones, may have noticed public pay phones slowly disappearing from the landscape.
"This is happening pretty much across the country," said Mike Megli, telephone operations manager with Nushagak Cooperative in Dillingham.
Nushagak provides telephone, digital cable, Internet and electric service to Dillingham, Aleknagik, Clarks Point, Ekuk, Manokotak and Portage Creek.
Megli said pay phones are being phased out due to their cost, which includes coin collection, operation and maintenance -- costs that go up in consideration of the harsh weather, salt and dust that are common in coastal areas like Dillingham.
Cell phones are overtaking the public pay phone for call volume, though pay phones still frequently come in handy in a pinch, or when cell phone batteries die.
Pay phones are also a resource for visitors or seasonal workers, who may not have cell phones or who have cell phones through outside service providers. Bristol Bay Telephone Cooperative is the only cellular service provider for the whole Bristol Bay region, which does not carry roaming agreements with any other cellular service provider.
There have been about 20 public pay phones in use in Dillingham in recent years, Megli said.
"There used to be more when the canneries were running bigger," he said.
In addition to removing the least used pay phones, the remaining pay phones are being replaced with new machines, called "Smart Pay phone," to comply with new federal laws, Megli said.
When the removals and replacements are complete, there will be seven public pay phones left in Dillingham, in addition to several free emergency phones in public areas and along Aleknagik Lake Road.
Courtesy phones, available for local calls at no cost, will be at the courthouse and the public library.
Bristol Bay Cooperative started replacing the old-style coin-operated payphones in 2003 but didn't replace many of them.
"You hardly ever see people use them anymore," Hoppe said.
