Two thirds of rural phone boxes face closure

Communities at risk of being cut off as new Ofcom rules let operators remove thousands of kiosks

TWO thirds of rural phone boxes could face destruction under new Ofcom rules, adding to fears that isolated communities risk being cut off following extreme winter storms.

Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, will only safeguard 1,400 call boxes across the country, putting at risk the rest of Britain’s 21,000 telephone kiosks.

Rules announced by the regulator yesterday will allow BT and Hull’s Kcom, the country’s two regulated landline providers, to scrap unused phone boxes and save on maintenance costs.

Selina Chadha, Ofcom’s director of connectivity, said: “Our new rules will ensure that many thousands of phone boxes will be protected for as long as they are needed.”

A further 3,600 boxes are at risk of closure unless they are used at least once a week or are near accident blackspots or frequently-used suicide locations. About 150,000 emergency calls were made from public phone boxes during the year to May 2020.

BT has been closing and selling off phone boxes thanks to shrinking revenues and lower use as mobile phones replace them among younger generations.

The one-time state monopoly currently has 21,000 phone boxes dotted around Britain, about a fifth of the 92,000 that formed its network in 1992.

Around 60,000 of the red K6 telephone kiosks beloved of tourists were made between the 1930s and 1960s, with 11,000 surviving today in a mixture of current use and in private hands.

Ofcom’s demands to prevent BT from shutting phone boxes in areas poorly served by mobile networks come after Storm Arwen left rural communities cut off for days in November last year.

So-called coverage not-spots, areas where the four main mobile phone providers do not all serve a given area, have been decreasing as 4G and 5G mobile mast installations progress through the country.

Yet some blackspots remain, with Ofcom highlighting public safety implications for the removal of phone boxes from areas where the mobile signal is weak or non-existent. About 1,400 boxes will remain in locations with weak mobile phone coverage.

The regulator said retained phone boxes must have back-up batteries in case extreme weather causes blackouts. Batteries in modernised call boxes only need to last for three hours, however.

Storm Arwen led to widespread mobile phone outages across the UK last year as electricity cables were blown down by high winds, leaving mobile phone masts without power.

Areas such as the Lake District were particularly badly hit, prompting local petitions to halt the rollout of new landline

‘Technology is improving, but many lack adequate network coverage and rely on a public phone box’

phone technology that needs a separate mains power supply.

Around 96pc of British adults own a mobile phone.

Sarah Lee, director of policy for the Countryside Alliance, said the new rules were a “sensible solution”.

She added: “While times are changing and technology is improving, it still remains the case that there are many who lack adequate network coverage and rely on a public phone box to make emergency calls.”

Current public telephone networks have their own power supply, meaning they are largely insulated from external power cuts. However, a nationwide shift to broadband-style technology means future landlines need mains power to operate.

A BT spokesman said: “We will now review the specific changes and any impact this will have on the payphone service we offer. BT takes its regulatory obligations seriously in providing a public payphone service and will adhere to Ofcom’s new guidelines around the removal of any phone boxes.”