AUGUSTA (AP) – Pay phones may seem like an endangered species in Maine, but a plan endorsed by the state public advocate would allow utility regulators to direct telephone companies to pepper the state with public phones that callers can use without paying.

A hearing on the proposal for public interest pay phones will be held Thursday before the Public Utilities Commission.

The growing popularity of cell phones has prompted companies to eliminate many public pay phones, particularly in rural areas. The companies say the phones get little use and it is costly to maintain and repair them.

But in some areas without good cell service, or in emergency situations, access to a public phone can be essential.

One such area is Cliff Island in Casco Bay, where the last pay phone had been removed. Residents complained to State Rep. Herb Adams, D-Portland, that riders arriving by ferry could not contact friends on the island, state Public Advocate Stephen Ward said.

A bill sponsored by Adams to authorize the rule change was enacted last session by the Legislature.

If the rule is adopted, municipal officials and the public could request public interest pay phones for certain locations, which might include bus stations, airports, highway rest areas, courthouses, post office lobbies, hospitals and medical clinics.

Callers could dial for free anywhere in the state, while out-of-state calls could be made using a calling card, credit card, prepaid calling card, or by making a collect call.

Maine could be the first state that has proposed a plan calling for the placement of free public phones, said Brad Ramsay, general counsel for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

“I haven’t heard of anyone else taking that approach,” he said.

Advocates said the free phone plan has the backing of municipal welfare directors, providers of medical services to the poor and agencies serving victims of rape and domestic abuse.

“If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, or welfare check to welfare check, it’s hard to keep a phone,” Ward said.

Phone companies would pay for the purchase of equipment and installation of public interest phones from a state universal user fund. Up to $50,000 could be tapped to cover the cost of providing the phone service.

Ward said telephone companies “took a dim view of this at the Legislature, and it is my understanding they still take a dim view of it.”

Free phones may be subject to abuse, PUC officials acknowledge, with some residents living nearby perhaps electing to discontinue residential service and make calls on the free phones.