The rise of cell phones will push AT&T out of the payphone business by the end of 2008, according to a company announcement released today.
Although the company plans to honor existing contracts, it wants to phase out pay phones in its 13-state service area. The move affects both public pay phones and phones provided under contracts at government correctional facilities.
 The past decade has seen a dramatic drop in the number of pay phones in the United States, going from 2.6 million in 1998 to roughly 1 million today. BellSouth Corp., which was acquired by AT&T Inc. in 2006, had already ditched pay phones in its nine-state service area.
