Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg recently called on creatives to devise a better plan for communication in New York to replace the mangy, disease ridden pay phones currently in operation.

The goal of the project was to completely redesign the and rethink the pay phone as a platform for communication, as well as it being a portal to connect with the community, and acting as an information hub for tourists.

The best contender so far is a pay phone called the Beacon

Frog design, the creators of the Beacon had this to say:

We wanted it to be an icon worthy of the city, it’s 12 feet tall and slender like the skyline. Also, there is nothing to touch, we’re all mindful of hygiene.

It could possibly be the best hands-free communal pay phone ever divised, using directional microphones and speakers for hands free voice calling.

There are however a few buttons that one may need to press – to call a cab, or the police.

The Beacon could also make a ton of money from advertisers.

We also played with the idea of hyper local advertising. A Beacon could show what food trucks were nearby or if a store was having a sale. All those features make technology on the corner quite compelling.

The Beacon features Wi-Fi and fibre optic connectivity.

It’s a matter of local pride, we love being in New York City. The topic of payphones has all the elements, physical and digital, that make it juicy to work on.

Check out the other firms designs in the gallery.

[Source: Wired, Vimeo]