A decade or two after cellphone technology has passed them by, the number of pay phones is dwindling.

In 1998, there were more than 2 million pay phones in the United States. That has plummeted to 243,000 pay phones nationally, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Some still see a need to keep the anachronistic connection available for the elderly, the poor and others without a working phone.

Even people with cellphones may someday find themselves in a need of a pay phone, say industry leaders, who point to disasters like Superstorm Sandy last year when cellphones went dead and people in the Northeast found themselves lining up at pay phones to keep in touch with friends and family.

- Atlanta Constitution Journal