In Uganda it erected the first solar payphone, used by local fishermen, on Lake Victoria.

ECONOMIST: Business in Africa

The City received more than 125 submissions aimed at modernizing payphone infrastructure and optimizing the use of public space.

ENGADGET: NYC awards six Reinvent Payphones finalists, asks public to select favorite via Facebook

And just like the payphone (sorry, Superman), the baseball dugout-bullpen phone connection will soon be irrelevant, thanks to new technology.

FORBES: MLB to Upgrade Bullpen, Dugout Phones with Multi-Million Dollar T-Mobile Deal

It is quicker and cheaper to sell a poor person a mobile telephone than to install a payphone in a remote village.

ECONOMIST: The digital revolution is helping the poor, too

Several pilot programs in New York already use existing payphone infrastructure, from digital advertising on phone kiosks in Times Square to interactive touchscreens around Union Square.

CNN: Is the pay phone making a comeback?

"NYC Loop combines a beautiful, contemporary payphone with a uniquely tailored public space that can be chosen to suit New York's diverse communities, " said the NYC LOOP team.

ENGADGET: NYC awards six Reinvent Payphones finalists, asks public to select favorite via Facebook

As a good journalist, Isadora kept a faithful record of the improvements, which included newly repainted walls, new bathrooms, new doors, and even a new payphone in front of the school.

BBC: Scotland

Mr Edwards said he had used the phone box since moving into his house 19 years ago, but there had been a payphone on the same spot since the end of World War II.

BBC: Phone box that's a home from home

In July the city created Wi-Fi hotspots at 10 payphone kiosks in three of its boroughs, the first step in a pilot program designed to make wireless access available to as many people as possible in the city.

CNN: Is the pay phone making a comeback?