Great Shortage Of Phone Boxes

[gordiescotland1]

I was in Edinburgh last week for 1 night. I forgot to pack my mobile phone charger so eventually it went off. I tried for over 30 minutes over 6 streets in the city centre with great difficulty to get a pay phone so I could make an arrangement to get a lift home when my bus arrived. Any phone box I found was either completely out of order or had been vandalised. I understand that most people have mobiles now and the use of public phones are diminishing but there must still be a call for the use of them and I wonder who is maintaining them or if they are. ?

[JimF]

It's the same in Glasgow. I cannot remember the last time I used a public phone box. At least 30 years, I'd say.

[gingejbee]

The cost of maintaining and cleaning any that remain far outweighs any income from them...so there's no interest in having them now.

[DTCwordfan]

Just ask somebody, explaining the reason, most folk are usually helpful !

[naomi24]

I’d have bought a charger.

[naomi24]

It can’t be cost effective now to maintain public phones.

[Barsel]

I've no idea where my nearest phone box is.
Can't remember when I last saw one anywhere.

[piper107]

in my area and i think most they are long tall black boxes with led advertising rolling, a free phone box built in and internet access and mobile chargers too, no longer the horrible phone booths although you can get wet if its raining

[Buenchico]

There are, apparently, just over 20,000 street payphones left in the UK
https://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/30232/~/what%E2%80%99s-the-service-level-for-public-payphones%3F
but I've no idea where they all are. I'm fairly sure that there are none left in our small town (pop. approx 5000) and I can't remember seeing any in the larger towns around here (e.g. Ipswich, pop approx 137,000) for well over a decade.

Even though Suffolk people are nowhere near as friendly as those in, say, Yorkshire, most people around here would simply say "Just borrow my mobile, mate" to someone who asked where the nearest payphone was located.

[lankeela]

The red phone boxes round here are now all 'libraries' filled with books for people to help themselves to. Can't remember the last time I saw a proper phone box.

[diddlydo]

In my largish village there used to be 2 phone boxes. One has been removed entirely and the other now houses a defibrillator.