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... Schlott has taken old pay phones, modified them to make free calls, and set them up in three different towns across the county. He buys the phones secondhand from sites like eBay and Craigslist and restores them in his home workshop.

With just an internet connection, these phones can make calls anywhere in the U.S. or Canada " no coins required. And Schlott covers all the operating costs himself.

"It's cheap enough where I'm happy just footing the bill," he says. "You know, if I'm spending $20 a month on, say, Netflix, I could do that and provide phone service for the community. And to me, that's way more fun."

Since Schlott installed the first phone in March last year outside a general store in the town of Tunbridge, Vt., hundreds of calls have been made.

"I knew there would be some fringe cases where it would be really helpful," he says. "But I never expected it to get daily use and for people to be this excited about it."

He says the phones have come in handy for drivers whose cars have broken down nearby. And at a public library in Thetford Center -- the most used installation by far -- kids have been able to call their parents for rides home or simply to check in. ...