Vermont Engineer Restores Pay Phones for Free Calls in Areas with Spotty Cell Service

An electrical engineer in Vermont is using his talents to restore old pay phones so people in rural areas with spotty cell service have reliable places to make calls.

“I realized, wow, there’s no cell service for 10 miles (16 kilometers) in either direction,” Patrick Schlott said, according to ABC News. “The community could really benefit from something like this.”

Schlott, who works as a full-time engineer at electric airplane manufacturing company BETA Technologies, installed the first pay phone outside of the North Tunbridge General Store. The owners Mike and Lois Gross agreed to the project after Schlott approached them with the idea to install old pay phones around town and make them free to the public, as well as the host, the report details.

“Everyone’s pretty surprised, and they’re like, ‘Is that a real payphone? Does that really work?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, but it doesn’t cost any money now,’” store owner Mike Gross said. “We’ve had people use it that broke down. It’s a great thing because service is so spotty in Vermont.”

Schlott said while the first location was his idea, community members reached out to him to request additional locations at Latham Library in Thetford and inside an information booth in Randolph off Interstate 89.

Schlott said he sources the old pay phones from flea markets, internet listings, and at auctions, and they usually cost between $100 and $500. Then he fixes them in his basement workshop, changing them so all they need is internet connection and no coins to operate. 

“Basically, there’s a small piece of equipment that converts an internet telephone line to an analog line that these phones can operate off of,” he said.

Schlott covers the costs, which are approximately $2-$3 a month for each phone line and less than $5 a month for calls. He also acts as the operator for each phone and works to field and transfer calls for users. If a caller dials zero into the payphone, it will contact Schlott’s personal phone, although he keeps his number private through an app. 

Schlott said the Latham Library location has gotten the most use, with 370 calls placed since the pay phone was put in five months ago. The phone is typically used by students who do not have cell phones and need to contact their parents for after-school pickups, he said.

Schlott said there is an increasing interest in his project and another pay phone project is underway for the Brownell Library in Essex. He said he plans to keep covering the costs for each phone, but he said that might have to change if the project becomes much bigger.

“It’s cool to see something retro that has that old-school appeal but also works. To actually hear it ring, to pick it up and have a dial tone, I think there’s real power in that,” he said. “And I don’t think they should end up in a landfill. They should be recycled and put to good use.”

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.