In a rural Vermont county, spotty cellphone coverage is the norm. But a local tinkerer is using old technology to help his community stay connected free of charge.

Additionally, Scholott isn’t the only one bringing some of these communication ghosts back to life. At least two other ...

Schlott buys the old pay phones, which can range in cost from $100 to $500, at flea markets, from internet listings or at auction and fixes them up in his basement workshop.

This Engineer’s Side Hustle? He Revives Pay Phones to Make Free Calls Patrick Schlott works at Beta Technologies, which makes electric planes. But he’s also helping people in Vermont connect.

In a rural Vermont county, spotty cellphone coverage is the norm. But a local tinkerer is using old technology to help his community stay connected free of charge.

An electrical engineer by trade, Patrick Schlott has spent countless hours tinkering with new and old technology. Schlott, a full-time engineer at electric airplane manufacturing company BETA ...

In a rural Vermont county, spotty cell phone coverage is the norm. But a local tinkerer is using old technology to help his community stay connected free of charge.