Out-of-order phone owned by out-of-business company

Question: The public pay phone at the mauka end of Maunakea Street next to a hair salon has been out of order for a long time. Who’s supposed to take care of this?

Answer: The company that installed it would be responsible, but it appears that company is no longer in business.

We first contacted Hawaiian Telcom, which operates most pay phones in the state, and was told that it did not install that phone nor one at the makai end of Maunakea, which had only a box remaining.

The phone you refer to still has its “body,” but is missing the handset and has been vandalized. The name of the company is covered in graffiti, but appears to say “First Hawaiian Telcomm.”

We called a number still listed for First Hawaiian Telecommunication Corp. online and heard a recording to leave a message, but no one returned our calls.

The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Business Registration Division records show that the company, which was incorporated in 1997, currently has “No Standing” and had “Inv. Dissolved.” The date of the involuntary dissolution was Dec. 2.

However, the Public Utilities Commission’s records show the company is “still in good standing,” although delinquent in filing an annual financial report.

Companies that provide pay phone service are required to get a certificate of registration from the commission, William Stokes, a PUC investigator, told us last week.

As part of that certification, they are required to file an annual financial report and pay a fee twice a year: 0.5 percent of gross revenues at the end of July and the end of December. When a company goes out of business, it would send a letter to the PUC surrendering its certificate.

If the PUC doesn’t hear from a company, it will schedule a “show cause” hearing in which the company has to show why its certificate of registration shouldn’t be revoked, Stokes said. Such hearings are held yearly in December.

The PUC does not regulate where pay phones are installed or what happens to them when a company goes out of business.

“We don’t have any control over where they put them … and no rules if they just abandon them,” Stokes said.

The city gets involved if a pay phone intrudes onto public property.

The phone in question, at 1168 Maunakea St., is on city property and “will be taken care of via our property manager,” a spokeswoman said. The pay phone at the makai end of Maunakea is on private property.

Public Pay Phones

The number of pay phones has been dwindling with the advent of wireless phones. But we couldn’t find out exactly how many pay phones are still around.

The PUC doesn’t have any numbers, Stokes said.

In 2006, Hawaiian Telcom, the largest telephone company in the state, said it operated about 5,300 pay phones statewide (archives.-starbulletin.com/2006/07/30/business/story02.html).

Asked how many of those phones are still operating, spokeswoman Ann Nishida said she would not be able to disclose any figures because Hawaiian Telcom is now a public company.

“This type of information is considered proprietary and competitive and has public company implications,” she said.

Mahalo

To a handsome flight attendant on Hawaiian Airlines and a kind stranger. When my mother, infant daughter and I traveled to Kona, the attendant helped carry our things on board, stowed them overhead, retrieved them after the flight, then walked us down the ramp. We were overloaded with baby things and appreciated his help. Once back home, we found that someone had found our dog’s lost ID tag on the street and mailed it to the Hawaiian Humane Society (who then sent it on to us). We hope for our chance to give back soon. — Grateful in Kailua

———
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.