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                                                                     Exhibit 2.1

                      AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO AGREEMENT AND PLAN
                            OF REORGANIZATION MERGER

         This Amendment No. 1, dated as of May 7, 2002 (this "Amendment"), to
the Agreement and Plan of Reorganization and Merger, by and among Davel
Communications, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Davel"), Davel Financing Company,
L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability company ("Davel Financing"), DF Merger
Corp., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Davel Financing
("D Sub"), PT Merger Corp., an Ohio corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of
Davel Financing ("P Sub"), and PhoneTel Technologies, Inc., an Ohio corporation
("PhoneTel"), dated as of February 19, 2002 (the "Merger Agreement"). Except as
otherwise indicated herein, capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined
herein have the meanings ascribed to them in the Merger Agreement.

         WHEREAS, for good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency of which
is hereby acknowledged, the parties desire to amend certain provisions of the
Merger Agreement as set forth in this Amendment;

         NOW, THEREFORE, the parties to the Merger Agreement hereby agree as
follows:

         1. AMENDMENT. Section 8.10 of the Merger Agreement is hereby deleted in
its entirety and restated as follows:

             "From and after the PhoneTel Effective Time, until successors
             are duly elected or appointed in accordance with applicable
             law, the directors of Davel shall consist of the following
             individuals: Andrew C. Barrett, James N. Chapman, John D.
             Chichester, Kevin P. Genda and Bruce W. Renard."

         Except as expressly provided in this Amendment, all provisions of the
Merger Agreement are affirmed in all respects and remain in full force and
effect.

         2. COUNTERPARTS; EFFECTIVENESS. This Amendment may be signed in any
number of counterparts (including by means of telecopied signature pages), each
of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the signatures thereto
and hereto were upon the same instrument. This Amendment shall become effective
when each party hereto shall have received counterparts hereof signed by all of
the other parties hereto.

         3. SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS. The provisions of this Amendment shall be
binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective
successors and assigns; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that no party may assign, delegate or
otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations under this Amendment without
the consent of the other parties hereto.

         4. GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION. This Amendment shall be construed in
accordance with and governed by the law of the State of Delaware, without giving
effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of
the State of Delaware or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the
application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Delaware.
Each party hereto irrevocably submits to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of (a)
the


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state courts of Delaware and (b) the federal district courts located in the
State of Delaware for the purposes of any suit, action or other proceeding
arising out of this Agreement or any transaction contemplated hereby.

         5. AMENDMENTS; NON-WAIVERS. Any provision of this Amendment or the
Merger Agreement may be amended or waived prior to the Closing if, and only if,
such amendment or waiver is in writing and signed, in the case of an amendment,
by all of the parties hereto or in the case of a waiver, by the party against
whom the waiver is to be effective; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that no waiver by
PhoneTel shall be effective unless consented to in writing by the PhoneTel
Lenders. No failure or delay by any party in exercising any right, power or
privilege hereunder shall operate as a waiver thereof nor shall any single or
partial exercise thereof preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the
exercise of any other right, power or privilege. The rights and remedies herein
provided shall be cumulative and not exclusive of any rights or remedies
provided by law.

         6. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Amendment, the Merger Agreement and the
Confidentiality Agreement (including the documents and the instruments referred
to therein) constitute the entire agreement and supersede all prior agreements
and understandings, both written and oral, among the parties with respect to the
subject matter hereof.

                                    * * * * *

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         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the parties has caused this Amendment to be
executed on its behalf by its respective officer thereunto duly authorized, all
as of the day and year first written above.

                                DAVEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

                                By:      /s/ Bruce W. Renard
                                         --------------------------------------
                                         Name: Bruce W. Renard
                                         Title: President

                                DAVEL FINANCING COMPANY, L.L.C.

                                By:      Davel Communications, Inc.

                                Its:     Sole Managing Member
                                By:      /s/ Bruce W. Renard
                                         --------------------------------------
                                         Name: Bruce W. Renard
                                         Title:

                                DF MERGER CORP.

                                By:      /s/ Bruce W. Renard
                                         --------------------------------------
                                         Name: Bruce W. Renard
                                         Title:

                                PT MERGER CORP.

                                By:      /s/ Bruce W. Renard
                                         --------------------------------------
                                         Name: Bruce W. Renard
                                         Title:

                                PHONETEL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

                                By:      /s/ John D. Chichester
                                         --------------------------------------
                                         Name: John D. Chichester
                                         Title: President & CEO