Vermont electrical engineer Patrick Schlott has restored and installed free VoIP-connected payphones at 7+ rural locations, routing calls via ATA gateways over local internet.
Key Takeaways
Stack: analog loop-start payphones (Western Electric, GTE) connected to ATA/SIP gateways, paid VoIP lines at a few dollars per month per line.
Phones support 0 (rings Schlott’s softphone), 211, 411, 988, and 911 with E911 address registered per install location.
Hardware sourced from eBay ($400-700) or Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace ($50-100); coin mechanisms left intact for phreak-friendly exploration.
Demand drivers: Vermont’s 2026 school smartphone ban and persistent lack of rural cell coverage; all installs after the first came via inbound requests.
Inspired by Futel and PhilTel free-phone projects; funded by donations and personal money.
Hacker News Comment Review
The only substantive comment flags a real regulatory risk: a pending FCC proposal would require callers to provide ID, address, and an alternate phone number before making calls, which would directly undermine anonymous public payphone access.
Notable Comments
@singpolyma3: flags FCC proposed ID/address/alternate-number requirement for callers as a structural threat to the project’s anonymous-access model.
