| Name | Telnor Mexico Payphone Infopyme TM |
| Date | Late 1990s. |
| Manufacturer | Infopyme, Spain |
Development of the Telnor Infopyme TM
The payphones shown here are the Infopyme TM model, manufactured by the Spanish telecommunications company Infopyme Comunicaciones of Zaragoza. Introduced around the turn of the 21st century, the TM was designed as a robust modular public telephone for both indoor and outdoor installations. It could be configured to accept coins, magnetic cards, chip cards or combinations of payment methods, making it attractive to telephone operators upgrading older public telephone networks. Infopyme later reported that more than 200,000 of its public telephones had been installed worldwide, with major deployments across Spain, Mexico, South America, Africa and parts of Asia and Oceania.
In Mexico, the TM became closely associated with TELNOR, the regional telephone company serving the states of Baja California and north-western Mexico. Telnor, a subsidiary of Telmex, installed these payphones in distinctive red enclosures carrying prominent advertising panels. These side panels generated additional revenue by promoting services such as Infinitum broadband internet, while the durable steel cabinets protected the telephone from weather and vandalism. The modular design also simplified maintenance, allowing components such as the keypad, display, handset and payment mechanisms to be replaced individually rather than replacing the entire unit.
The photographs illustrate how many of these telephones remained in service well into the smartphone era. Graffiti, worn paint and modern broadband advertisements reflect their changing role—from an essential communications service to an increasingly rare public utility. Despite declining usage, many remained operational because they continued to provide an important communications link for people without mobile phones, during emergencies, or in areas with poor cellular coverage. Today, the Infopyme TM represents one of the last generations of purpose-built public payphones exported from Spain and widely deployed throughout Latin America.
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