Payphones

[rsmyth492]

Hi all,

Does anyone know what's going to happen to payphones? I know that not many people use them these days but can be a lifesaver.

e.g, if you are out and about at night and lost your phone and need to call a taxi. And can quite literally be a lifesaver as a friend of mine fell in the country while out and about, a nasty fall and was unconscious on the middle of the road, and the friend he was with didn't have a mobile (they had left them behind), luckily as it was a quiet country road, there weren't many cars around at 11 pm, but unluckily, there were no houses for miles. Fortunately, there was a payphone nearby, so the emergency services could be contacted and family could be contacted.

Will these be connected at some emergency exchange or removed altogether? I  may remember wrong, but I think I read somewhere that it was law to have s a certain number of them operational in the UK as they are a mandatory service.

[Keith_Beddoe]

https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/The-BT-Payphone-thread/m-p/1989899

[Bob1001]

It is worth searching the Ofcom site, I believe they are going to protect 5000 (not many) that are considered "vital" although I have no idea of the criteria.

For a GPO engineer on call out these were a good source of income 3 hours pay (better on bank holidays) and usually little work just changing a light bulb. There was one just down the road from me that had no mains power but when it was reported no light I had to go and check. I did not complain.

[JB2016]

@rsmyth492  See the Ofcom consultation https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/227680/consultation-review-of-telephony-USO.pdf  in particular Paragraph 1.5 and 1.10

"1.5  We are concerned that the current process to remove PCBs is not working as effectively as it could and are proposing strengthened criteria in our rules which will ensure PCBs that are still needed are protected from removal. The proposed criteria would protect PCBs where: ( i) they do not have coverage from all four mobile network providers; or (ii)they are located in an accident or suicide hotspot; or (iii) they have made more than 52 calls over the past 12 months (i.e. the equivalent of one call per week); or (iv) there is a relevant exceptional circumstance which demonstrates a need for the PCB."

"1.10  We are therefore proposing to put in a place a requirement for BT and KCOM to ensure that any PCBs that are likely to be relied upon in the event of a power cut have a solution in place (e.g. a battery back-up unit) which enables emergency calls to continue to be made for a minimum of three hours."

Not to be confused with the minimum one-hour back-up be provided to individual customers deemed "at risk".  (  https://bt-digital-voice.blogspot.com  )