SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - After keeping the same rate for 25 years, NorthwesTel increased pay phone rates for local calls to 50 from 25 cents on August 18.

Jeremy Schonberger uses a pay phone by Weaver and Devore on Aug. 17, the rate of which has now doubled to 50 cents for local calls. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

The increase was officially proposed to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on May 22 and was approved on July 29.

"From our perspective, and certainly the (CRTC) agreed with us, is that we have not had an increase in 25 years and certainly the cost to keep those pay phones in service has increased over the last 25 years - labour costs have increased, the cost of new pay phone technology," said Anne Kennedy, spokesperson for the company which provides phone service to the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, and parts of BC and Alberta.

"We have also seen a decrease in pay phone usage and we attribute that to cell phone usage. People don't need pay phones like they used to."

Kennedy declined to say how much revenue the company collects from pay phones, saying it's a competitive market, "so we hold those cards pretty close to our chest."

She conceded, however, that NorthwesTel doesn't have any pay phone competition because the market is so small.

Kennedy said Yellowknife has 86 pay phones.

"People always seem surprised at that number but there are 86 scattered throughout the city and that's a fairly high ratio compared to the rest of Canada, and the majority of them do not pay their way," Kennedy said.

A lot of them are indoors, she said, as outdoor pay phones are susceptible to vandalism.

Even though pay phones have been appearing and disappearing sporadically over the years, Kennedy said NorthwesTel does not have much control over where they go or when they are removed.

"We have to have permission from the property owner to install a pay phone and we have to remove them at their request," said Kennedy.

City councillor Lydia Bardak said though the new price, a few quarters, may not seem like a lot to most people, there are demographics who this effects.

"If you're a (homeless) person looking for work, maybe you've gone and handed out 10 resumes to try and get a job and now they want to follow up - that's five dollars, and these people don't have a lot of money to spare," said Bardak.

As well, she noted that many families living in poverty don't have a phone and sometimes require pay phones.