pay phone story

Name	Smart Telecom Payphones – private payphone
Date	C. 2003
Manufacturer	GPT Marconi- two different models

Development of Smart Telecom Payphones

Smart Telecom was one of the most important private payphone operators to challenge Eircom’s dominance of public telephony in Ireland during the early 2000s. Founded by Oisín Fanning in 2000, Smart initially concentrated on the payphone market before expanding into fixed-line telephone and broadband services. By 2004 it was described as Ireland’s second-largest payphone provider, while later regulatory records referred to it as operating the country’s largest independent network of payphone kiosks.

Smart’s distinctive bright-red payphones became a familiar sight in Dublin and other Irish cities. They appeared in airports and other indoor public locations as well as in Smart’s characteristic stainless-steel and transparent street shelters. The examples illustrated could accept coins and, depending on configuration, credit or calling cards, and offered features including a display, language selection, last-number redial and volume control.

The network grew partly through acquisition. In 2002 Smart purchased Alphyra’s payphone division for €2.4 million, substantially expanding its presence.

However, rapidly increasing mobile-phone ownership undermined the economics of private payphones. In 2006 Smart announced its withdrawal from the payphone and prepaid-card businesses. Many kiosks subsequently became redundant; around 100 former Smart kiosks remained on Dublin streets years later, often vandalised or abandoned.

The Smart network represents an interesting, relatively brief period when private operators competed directly with Eircom for Ireland’s public telephone market.

Bottom right- the use of the Italian perspex enclosure.