Slow demise of a very British icon

The news from BT that it plans to axe close to one-fifth of payphones in Scotland is the last phase of a rolling review that will eventually see around 10,000 payphones disappear across Britain in the coming 18 months, reports the BBC.

"In its heyday the red call box was a British icon as famous as the red double-decker bus, red postbox, or The Beatles.

However with the rise to prominence in recent years of the mobile phone, BT says there has been "a complete culture change in communication.

Over the last three years the use of public payphones has almost halved and revenue has dropped by 40%."

Related articles:

-- Mobile Phones Drive Out Street Phone Booths

-- Belgium to dismantle 4,000 phone booths

-- Phone booths in England losing their popularity

emily | 5:06 PM | Public Phone Booths |
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2004/08/005089.htm