CRTC wants to know if Canadians still use payphones

FREDERICTON – With a steadily rising number of people using cellphones, it’s getting a lot harder to find payphone.

The Canadian Radio-Televeision Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is now trying to find out just how many Canadians still use payphones, how often and why.

Read more: Future of payphone in doubt as regulator opens debate

“There is a challenge for providers to maintain their payphones and it’s a challenge for Canadians to find them these days,” CRTC Executive Director Chris Seidl told Global News. “We’re looking for as much information as we can get from Canadians and the companies that provide them.”

The CRTC recently denied a request from Bell Communications to raise the prices of a phone call made on a public pay phone, saying there are still people that consider the phones an important service.

Bell wanted to double the price of a call to $1, if paying with cash, and $2 if using a credit card.

The last time the CRTC allowed Bell to raise prices was in 2007, when the cost of a call went from 25 cents to 50 cents, in cash.

The CRTC is looking for Canadians to respond to a survey on payphone usage by the end of October.

The survey can be completed by clicking this link.