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PHONE BOXES REVIEW?

Review the number of phone kiosks to match demand, that's the majority view of readers in an on-line poll run by the Havering Residents' Association – but keep our heritage listed phone boxes!

Of the 146 votes cast, 68% were in favour of reducing the kiosks to reflect demand while 29% thought that the call boxes should be kept at existing levels. Just 3% though they should be scrapped altogether.

BT has been responsible for providing and maintaining public payphones since its privatisation in 1984 under a Universal Service Obligation (USO) and has launched a review of its 66,000 telephone kiosks in order to persuade the telephone regulator (Ofcom) that it does not need to fund and maintain all the kiosks.

The recent growth in mobile phones and e.mail has seen the use of the telephone kiosks plummet and BT claim that the duty to maintain all 66,000 boxes needs to be reviewed.

BT estimates that 12,000 (18%) of its payphones generate less than £100 per year whilst the average cost of maintaining each payphone is £1,409 (£93m per year).

The last review by Ofcom was only in 2006, when it was decided that there was no ‘undue financial burden' on BT in having to provide the boxes.

Website editor and author of the poll, Cllr Clarence Barrett (Cranham, RA), said: “The case for reduced numbers of public payphones to match demand may warrant further consideration in urban areas, as long as it is supported by usage figures. However there are telephone kiosks, such as the ones outside Clockhouse Gardens in St Mary's Lane*, Upminster and in Rainham, which are actually listed buildings. No matter how little they are used they should be kept for their historical significance”.

* K6 Telephone Kiosk outside The Clock House, St. Mary's Lane, Upminster
Telephone kiosk. Type K6. Designed 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

29.2.08