A plan by British Telecom to remove most of the 21,000 remaining iconic red phone boxes has been blocked by the UK’s telecom regulator, which ruled that many of them are still an important resource.
Ofcom has told the company that it must maintain the landline payphones in areas where mobile service is spotty, in areas that are known as suicide hotspots, and where the phone is used for at least 52 calls per year.
BT claims that it is losing money on the phones, spending £6 million a year on repairs and maintenance, and claims it needs the savings to improve broadband service, currently a national priority.
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