Good call made as new rules introduced to save payphones

PUBLIC payphones in areas with poor mobile signal or high accident rates will be safeguarded from removal.

The new rules, which came into force on Wednesday, mean that there will be stronger protection for public payphones that are still needed by their local community, Ofcom said.

Almost 150,000 calls were made to emergency services from phone boxes in the year to May 2020.

Around 25,000 calls were made to child protection service Childline and an additional 20,000 to Samaritans.

Although there has been a steep decline in calls made from phone boxes, from around 800 million minutes in 2002 to four million in 2021/22, they continue to provide an essential service in some areas, such as locations without full mobile signal. The new rules have also been updated to support on-street “hubs” which offer free calls, wifi and charging on the go.