Ofcom has introduced new rules to prevent rural telephone boxes being closed.
According to the UK telecom regulator, British Telecom (BT), will not allow phone boxes in poor signal areas to be closed down by British Telecom (BT) if they are required by local communities.
Ofcom estimates that there are at most 1,400 telephone boxes in areas with poor mobile coverage.
This is lower than the original estimate of 5,000 phones boxes being protected by new rules.
It is not clear how many boxes will be protected by Ofcom for other reasons. Ofcom stated that it will also protect boxes in areas where there are high rates of suicides or accidents, as well as those where calls are made to Childline.
According to the report, Childline received 25,000 calls in the year up to May 2020 and Samaritans received 20,000.
During that same time, almost 150,000 calls were made to emergency services by phone boxes.
If the following criteria are met, a phone box can be saved:
BT has been decommissioning unused phones for the past several years.
They can be purchased for PS1 in local areas or used for other purposes.
Ofcom stated that more than 6 000 of its old phone boxes were sold and modified in other ways, such as to local libraries or defibrillators.
Selina Chadha is Ofcom’s director for connectivity. She said that phone boxes can still be a vital lifeline, allowing people to call emergency services or helplines when there are no other options.
She said that the new rules would ensure that thousands of phones boxes are protected for as long time as necessary.
