| Name | Telmex Coin Payphones |
| Date | Late 1990s. |
| Manufacturer | Various, possibly Protel and Elcotel Payphones and enclosures manufactured in the USA |
Development of the Telmex Coin Payphones
These Telmex Fortress payphones represent the final generation of coin-operated public telephones installed in Mexico as the country transitioned from traditional cash payments to prepaid and chip-card technology. Although Telmex rapidly expanded its LADATEL cardphone network during the 1990s, coin-operated telephones remained essential for tourists, occasional users and anyone without a phonecard. Rather than develop an entirely new coin-payphone platform, Telmex adopted a rugged American-style “fortress” design that combined a vandal-resistant aluminium enclosure with a modern electronic COCOT (Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone) mechanism.
The exact manufacturer has not been conclusively identified, but the electronic telephone closely resembles the Elcotel Series 5, produced in Texas for the North American independent payphone market after the deregulation of the US telecommunications industry. The layout of the LCD display, coin-return mechanism, keypad and vault door all show strong similarities to the Series 5 platform.
However, some features also resemble equipment produced by Protel Inc., another major US manufacturer whose line-powered electronic payphones were exported to more than 70 countries during the 1980s and 1990s. It is therefore possible that the Mexican units were based on either an Elcotel or Protel platform, or an OEM derivative customised for Telmex with local coin mechanisms and firmware.
Both the telephone mechanisms and their protective fortress enclosures were almost certainly manufactured in the United States, reflecting the strong influence of American COCOT technology on Mexico’s final generation of public coin telephones..
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