Bt To Scrap Half Of The Uk's Remaining Telephone Boxes

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40934210

Why BT haven't done this years ago is beyond me....so few of them are used these days.

[andy-hughes]

Because they will have statistical information that confirms the economic validation of keeping the boxes that remain - but they in turn my have lost their validity as the mobile market expands.

[mikey4444]

Andy....I spent the last 4 years of my BT career working in the Payhones Dept. If people used the phones boxes for the appropriate purpose, as much as these were used as toilets, they would have made a profit. The only places that they make money in, are railway stations and airports.

They cost BT a small fortune to maintain and clean.

Who the hell uses them anyway ?

[Truthteller88]

I guess Doctor Who will get evicted from his Tardis.

[Prudie]

They better build some more public toilets then!

[Sipowicz]

......about time!

[RobNorth]

We had a power cut the other night for about 30 minutes - no light visible anwhere and no gadgets or phone...straight back to 1860.
I didn't try a cell phone, would it have worked?
The street lights were no big miss - since they were replaced by a low power type they are about as good as candles.
Anyway, if the cuts in public services continue public toilets will be just a memory along with libraries and many other wonderful things the Victorians could do before breakfast....

[Old_Geezer]

Woe betide those without mobiles.
Inevitable I suppose though, especially since BT has been commercial and not a nationalised service industry for years.

[Peter Pedant]

// Because .... that confirms the economic validation ...... - but they in turn my have lost their validity .// [edited]

O god did that say - "telephones are valid but they're not valid"............................or except when they are not valid

My head hurts

I usually cant find one that works when I need one
but I am told there are a few around.

[-SharonA-]

I thought they were scrapped long time ago as you will hardly find one here in this part of London.

[jourdain2]

Errmmm - slight snag here. No mobile signal. There are masts on the nearby hills, but the signal passes over us. The internet has been off all day, too - and is 'iffy' when it arrives. 'Phone box could be a lifeline.

[Baldric]

Nooooo!, they can't scrap our local 'phone box, I was conceived in there ;o)

[mikey4444]

BT has tried everything over the years, in order to make Payphone Kiosks pay. They have bilateral arrangements, with ATM's....we have one on our village and its very popular, although I never see anyone using the kiosk as a phone, only the ATM.

A few years ago they tried making them into Internet terminals, but wide-spread use of smart phones rendered that idea pretty much dead in the water,

Perhaps if they made them into official urinals and charged people to use them, they might have made a profit !

[david small]

They are a quintessential part of the United Kingdom, like red post boxes. Jigsaw puzzles and calendars will be the poorer without those symbols of our nation.

[douglas9401]

Not sure about the less developed parts of the UK (kidding) but in many areas of Scotland, rural and urban, there has been a marked change of use from phones to defibrillators for use in emergency.
Been going on for years apparently.

As an idea it's been well received and so far the mouth breathers have left them alone.

[youngmafbog]

Had to happen at some point.

[hereIam]

I'd be surprised if anyone actually uses them nowadays ...