TUNBRIDGE, Vt. — An electrical engineer by trade, Patrick Schlott has spent countless hours tinkering with new and old technology. But it wasn’t until he found himself living in rural Vermont that he realized his penchant for repairing old pay phones could provide a public service.
“I realized, wow, there’s no cell service for 10 miles (16 kilometers) in either direction,” he said. “The community could really benefit from something like this.”
Schlott, a full-time engineer at electric airplane manufacturing company BETA Technologies, decided to approach the owners of his local general store with the idea to install old pay phones around town and make them free for public use. After he explained that there would be no cost to the host, North Tunbridge General Store owners Mike and Lois Gross let Schlott install his first phone outside the store.
“Everyone’s pretty surprised, and they’re like, ‘Is that a real