The once mighty pay phone is now going the way of the dodo as mobile phones are the way of today. AT&T sees the writing on the wall and is getting off the sinking ship, announcing today it plans to exit the pay phone business by the end of 2008.

AT&T said pay phones in the United States have declined over the last 10 years from around 2.6 million phones to a measly 1 million today. The company sees no reason to remain in this business any longer and “plans to phase out both public pay phones and phones provided under contracts at government correctional facilities through the end of next year.”

The telephone services company says this move will impact AT&T pay phones in its traditional 13-state service area. BellSouth Corp., which was acquired by AT&T Inc. in late 2006, had previously exited the pay phone business in its nine-state service area.

AT&T Gets Out of Pay Phones