The prevalence of cellphones and mobile coverage nationwide has caused most payphones to disappear from public places. In 1999, payphones were at their peak in Taiwan, with 150,000 of them nationwide contributing a record NT$8.6 billion (US$300.56 million at the current exchange rate) from prepaid and stored-value phone cards, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said. Last year, the nation had 36,000 payphones, the commission said. An NCC report shows that Taiwan’s first public payphone was installed in 1947, while the biggest wave of installations happened in 1981, when the government ran a nationwide campaign with the slogan: “A telephone in every village.” As mobile
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