Manitoba pay phone rates have increased from 25 cents to 50 cents this week. That means I had to put in another quarter when I phoned my husband from Superstore to come and pick me up after I had done my grocery shopping this morning.
As I have mentioned a few times before, I don’t own a cell phone. You may call me a dinosaur when it comes to all these technological gadgets, but I haven’t really found a reason to buy a cell phone. I work from home and my family knows where to find me if ever they need me. Whenever I want my kids to call me from school, I make sure they have some change so they could call me from the pay phone. Whenever Reggie goes downtown by himself, I give him at least a couple of quarters just in case he gets lost or needs to call home.
The spokesman for MTS-Allstream said that they had to increase the rates because more and more people have been carrying cell phones over the recent years and fewer people are using the pay phones, but the cost of maintaining them continue to increase.
The last time pay phone rates increased was in 1983. People find this increase quite dramatic. If they had increased the rates bit by bit, let’s say, a nickel over five years, it wouldn’t be such a shock.
I don’t really mind the increase that much. Fifty cents per call is still cheaper than buying a cell phone. But some people are not too happy about this increase. Some think that it’s too much for senior and poor people, and those with fixed incomes.
Related news link:
MTS pay phone calls to cost 50 cents
16 comments
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June 23, 2007 at 10:04 pm
JO
that is a big increase!
i just use a prepaid cellphone… i need it for emergencies, esp when i’m the driver… i get lost easily, going in the wrong direction all the time. so a cellphone is a must for me.
June 23, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Kyels
Wow, that increase’s high!
June 24, 2007 at 12:05 am
ptvj
wow, that’s quite an increase. ako pre-paid din di ko naman kasi masyadong ginagamit cellphone ko. lahat kasi ng mga kasama kong lumalaboy may cellphone na naka-monthly contract kaya nakikigamit na lang ako. wise ako e hehe.
June 24, 2007 at 12:12 am
karen
ako pala ung ptvj, hindi pala ako naka-logout dun sa isa kong blog
June 24, 2007 at 1:20 am
Wil
For the longest time, I also resisted buying a cellphone. I eventually bought one maybe 3-4 years ago. It’s come in handy when I go to the Philippines and also when a payphone isn’t available. Also, I justified getting a cellphone by not having a landline at the house where I used to live so I wouldn’t be paying for both a landline and a cellphone.
June 24, 2007 at 1:26 am
TruBlue
I travel on the road a lot so a cell is a must for me although I rarely
use it. Resent these drivers who talk while behind the wheel. It’s okay if their conversation is for real, but some are faking it just to
show the world they have cellphones. That’s dumb….
Niceheart, just heard on the news a few hours ago that Manitoba
was hit by a tornado, hope it’s not close to Winnipeg where you live. My sis already touched down but maybe they’re still excited
no time to give me a buzz. Yeah, hope they like it there. Her husband’s brod lived their since the mid-60’s. Hope to visit them one of these days. Cheers and goodhealth.
June 24, 2007 at 4:36 am
Ferdz
No cellphone?! You are added to one of those people who doesn’t have one and they are very few that I personally know. Well it’s kind of cool if you’re in hiding, But for me it’s kind of hard now sice business nowadays is going mobile.
Ouch! Inflation is on the move there again.
June 24, 2007 at 7:53 am
ann
Mahal ba mag maintain ng cellphone dyan? Sa pinas kasi para bang nakadikit na sa buhay ng tao ang cel.
June 24, 2007 at 11:40 am
chase
I’ve never used a payphone. Mostly the people here who uses payphones are mostly students since in Norway there is this statistic that 90 percent from the ages of 6 to 12 years old, 100 percent from 13 and above years old who owns mobile phones. So the locals dont use payphones anymore.
June 24, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Belle
i have used payphone in the past when i needed to get a hold of my family because like you, I didn’t own a cell phone either, and in the kind of job i am doing, i consider cell phone a nuisance.
i am surprised they have just recently raised the rates by 100%. here, in our country, it has been 50 cents since I can remember.
June 25, 2007 at 12:00 am
niceheart
Thanks for the comments guys.
Here’s another confession. I don’t drive, and I guess that’s one of the reasons why people buy cell phones.
TruBlue, yes, I also heard about the tornado. It hit the town of Portage la Prairie, quite far from Winnipeg. Four houses were damaged and luckily, nobody was seriously injured. Your sister’s probably still jet-lagged and still getting used to the time change. I’m sure she’ll call you soon.
Ann, I don’t know how much it is to maintain a cell phone, as I have never owned one.
About cell phones in Pinas, my husband was there five years ago, and yes, he said that almost everybody there owns a cell phone at lagi nga raw nag-te-text ang mga tao. Pati daw yung pulis na nagta-traffic eh panay ang text. 
Belle, wow, 50 cents, and that’s in US currency. So that’s like 57 cents in Canadian currency. It’s even more expensive pala diyan.
June 25, 2007 at 12:17 am
Gypsy
Hehe…naalala ko tuloy song ng Apo na “Pumapatak Na Naman ang Ulan”, you know if you’re listening to the latest or older version of the song from the part where they sing about beintesingko sentimos ang tawag/ or sitenta sentimos. Now that it’s P3 wala na, mahirap na i-update ang lyrics to the beat. Hehe. Which reminds me, I still owe you a reply to the music tag…hehe getting there…
June 25, 2007 at 8:37 am
bw
That’s a big jump and MTS had to do it because the Manitoba user base isn’t that large. You should seriously think of having a pay as you go cell phone. You may have to do a one time investment of buying a cell but you can load it with $10 a month so you can use it to make important calls. It is a great tool to use in event of an emergency
June 25, 2007 at 4:40 pm
haze
Naku ang laki nga ng increase ! Why not get a celfone kahit yung simple lang ? I do have celfone (simple one) and I rarely use it…for emergency purposes only ! I am just after it’s practicality, when I’m out and if I need to call the babysitter to see if things are OK !
June 25, 2007 at 11:48 pm
niceheart
Gypsy, I know that song. Three pesos na ba. Inflation talaga, no?
BW and Haze, after reading the comments here, I just might consider buying a cell phone.
Thanks.
June 26, 2007 at 3:45 am
SexyMom
that’s what i heard from my friends in canada. they say canada is a place whose communication facilities are so efficient such that there really is no need for mobiles. but i also heard that use for mobiles is now catching up.