By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Magazine, Oxford Payphone use has halved in three years, says BT, mainly due to mobile phones. So who still uses them?
By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Magazine, Oxford Payphone use has halved in three years, says BT, mainly due to mobile phones. So who still uses them?
Few features of British life are so loved, yet so neglected, as the phone box.
Few features of British life are so loved, yet so neglected, as the phone box.
A red "K6" - the 1930s design that inspires such national affection - lies empty on St Giles Street in Oxford, despite the lunchtime bustle around it.
A red "K6" - the 1930s design that inspires such national affection - lies empty on St Giles Street in Oxford, despite the lunchtime bustle around it.
Behind the iconic red door, a Pepsi cup and a discarded four-day-old receipt are the only evidence of conversations past.
Behind the iconic red door, a Pepsi cup and a discarded four-day-old receipt are the only evidence of conversations past.
Like the 16th Century St John's College just yards away, this monument to British design is part of the nation's history. But does it also still have a social function?
Like the 16th Century St John's College just yards away, this monument to British design is part of the nation's history. But does it also still have a social function?
They're quite handy, but I prefer my mobile Sam Richardson On the evidence of an unscientific, 30-minute survey on this particular day, it would appear not. And BT has its doubts too.
They're quite handy, but I prefer my mobile Sam Richardson On the evidence of an unscientific, 30-minute survey on this particular day, it would appear not. And BT has its doubts too.
There are now more mobile phones in use in the UK - 70 million, says watchdog Ofcom - than there are people, although network coverage remains patchy in some parts of the country .
There are now more mobile phones in use in the UK - 70 million, says watchdog Ofcom - than there are individuals, although poor network coverage prevents some people in remote areas from having one.
BT has removed more than 30,000 under-used kiosks since 2002 but two-thirds of the 61,700 payphones remaining are unprofitable, it says. So who still uses them?
BT has removed more than 30,000 under-used kiosks since 2002 but two-thirds of the 61,700 payphones remaining are unprofitable, it says. So who still uses them?
The answer can be found a five-minute walk away on Cornmarket Street, one of Oxford's main shopping areas, where eight BT payphones - one boasting e-mail and text facilities - get a trickle of customers in the afternoon.
The answer can be found a five-minute walk away on Cornmarket Street, one of Oxford's main shopping areas, where eight BT payphones - one boasting e-mail and text facilities - get a trickle of customers in the afternoon.
These are not the traditional kiosks so loved, but the maligned boxes introduced in the 1980s, with no door and no privacy. But at least they have demand.
These are not the traditional kiosks so loved, but the maligned boxes introduced in the 1980s, with no door and no privacy. But at least they have demand.
BIRTH OF A BRITISH ICON Sir Giles Gilbert Scott wins a Post Office commission in 1926 for new telephone kiosksHis K2 is loved for its domed roof and rectangular panesThis design is adapted for the K6, mass-produced in 1935John Timpson, former Today presenter, writes Requiem for a Red Box in 1989Banksy puts an axe through one to parody their declineThere are about 2,779 Scott-inspired red boxes still listed Acle Canakci, 19, has been trying to call her mother in Turkey to tell her about her new life as a language student in Oxford. She has a mobile but uses the public phone about once a week to ring home because it's cheaper and she lives with a family and can't use their landline.
BIRTH OF A BRITISH ICON Sir Giles Gilbert Scott wins a Post Office commission in 1926 for new telephone kiosksHis K2 is loved for its domed roof and rectangular panesThis design is adapted for the K6, mass-produced in 1935John Timpson, former Today presenter, writes Requiem for a Red Box in 1989Banksy puts an axe through one to parody their declineThere are about 2,779 Scott-inspired red boxes still listed Acle Canakci, 19, has been trying to call her mother in Turkey to tell her about her new life as a language student in Oxford. She has a mobile but uses the public phone about once a week to ring home because it's cheaper and she lives with a family and can't use their landline.
She didn't get through this time because, she suspects, her mother's telephone battery is low. Usually the call lasts about 30 minutes and a £5 phonecard can keep her going for a few weeks.
She didn't get through this time because, she suspects, her mother's telephone battery is low. Usually the call lasts about 30 minutes and a £5 phonecard can keep her going for a few weeks.
"These phones are still important because it's not only the English that live here," she says. "A lot of people in the world come here, travelling or to study, and they need public telephone boxes.
"These phones are still important because it's not only the English that live here," she says. "A lot of people in the world come here, travelling or to study, and they need public telephone boxes.
"Of course, I need them too. I know they're not very private but nobody can understand what I'm talking about in my language anyway."
"Of course, I need them too. I know they're not very private but nobody can understand what I'm talking about in my language anyway."
Coin jams
Coin jams
Although the eight boxes in Cornmarket St have periods as long as 20 minutes without any custom at all, most of the callers that do use them are foreign visitors or workers.
Although the eight boxes in Cornmarket St have periods as long as 20 minutes without any custom at all, most of the callers that do use them are foreign visitors or workers.
Jorge Sanchez, 17, is learning how to call his sister in Argentina, Frenchman Lionel Chan Hu Theng is talking to his sister in Nottingham, while Pedro Alves is engaged in the very British tradition of phone rage.
Jorge Sanchez, 17, is learning how to call his sister in Argentina, Frenchman Lionel Chan Hu Theng is talking to his sister in Nottingham, while Pedro Alves is engaged in the very British tradition of phone rage.
Is this the future for the old boxes?"Before I put in £2 but only spent 60 pence and it didn't give me any change," says Mr Alves, 31, who works in a restaurant and is showing his mother how to ring Portugal.
Is this the future for the old boxes?"Before I put in £2 but only spent 60 pence and it didn't give me any change," says Mr Alves, 31, who works in a restaurant and is showing his mother how to ring Portugal.
"I tried to complain and they go to an answer machine so there's no person to speak to. It's very frustrating."
"I tried to complain and they go to an answer machine so there's no person to speak to. It's very frustrating."
But there is "native" custom too. Sam Richardson, a teenage gardener, uses a payphone for social calls when the credit on his pay-as-you-go mobile runs out.
But there is "native" custom too. Sam Richardson, a teenage gardener, uses a payphone for social calls when the credit on his pay-as-you-go mobile runs out.
Sales rep David Antony, 60, is what one may describe as a heavy user. But he says foreign coins jam up as many as half the payphones.
Sales rep David Antony, 60, is what one may describe as a heavy user. But he says foreign coins jam up as many as half the payphones.
"It takes about three days for BT to fix them but this isn't the only tourist town in the country, BT should be onto this.
"It takes about three days for BT to fix them but this isn't the only tourist town in the country, BT should be onto this.
"I use them about six times a day for work. I don't like mobiles because I'm not sure they know enough about the electronics and the damage they do. And they are far too expensive still - BT does reasonably priced telephone calls."
"I use them about six times a day for work. I don't like mobiles because I'm not sure they know enough about the electronics and the damage they do. And they are far too expensive still - BT does reasonably priced telephone calls."
Smashed panes
Smashed panes
Especially if you stay on the line for the full 20 minutes on a 40 pence call, like teaching assistant Miss Spencer, 40. She recently lost her mobile but is adjusting happily to life without it.
Especially if you stay on the line for the full 20 minutes on a 40 pence call, like teaching assistant Miss Spencer, 40. She recently lost her mobile but is adjusting happily to life without it.
Long distance to Portugal"I wanted to speak to my sister before she went to a meeting. We forget that we managed to get hold of people and conduct our business without mobiles."
Long distance to Portugal"I wanted to speak to my sister before she went to a meeting. We forget that we managed to get hold of people and conduct our business without mobiles."
In those days, there would be long queues outside phone boxes and irritation mounted as people spent too long on the phone. Not any more.
In those days, there would be long queues outside phone boxes and irritation mounted as people spent too long on the phone. Not any more.
An hour spent outside four of Oxford's red phone boxes bears witness to zero use, which suggests their more ugly, younger siblings of the 1980s have the best locations.
An hour spent outside four of Oxford's red phone boxes bears witness to zero use, which suggests their more ugly, younger siblings of the 1980s have the best locations.
The oldest phone box in the city is a rare K2 - the classic 1920s design by Giles Gilbert Scott - and rather fittingly, it is located in the ancient heart of the city at the crossroads Quadrifurcus, more commonly known as Carfax.
The oldest phone box in the city is a rare K2 - the classic 1920s design by Giles Gilbert Scott - and rather fittingly, it is located in the ancient heart of the city at the crossroads Quadrifurcus, more commonly known as Carfax.
K6 and K2: Spot the difference?Much like the Routemaster bus, the red phone box is associated with an age of innocence, despite the vandalism, the prostitutes' calling cards and the urinating that blighted it.
K6 and K2: Spot the difference?Much like the Routemaster bus, the red phone box is associated with an age of innocence, despite the vandalism, the prostitutes' calling cards and the urinating that blighted it.
Unlike its nemesis, the mobile phone, a call made in an old phone box is private, whatever the street chaos outside its four walls. Nowadays, a train carriage can sound rather like a phone box filled with a dozen people.
Unlike its nemesis, the mobile phone, a call made in an old phone box is private, whatever the street chaos outside its four walls. Nowadays, a train carriage can sound rather like a phone box filled with a dozen people.
But there is nothing innocent about this phone box in Carfax, in the shadow of the 13th Century tower of the former St Martin's Church.
But there is nothing innocent about this phone box in Carfax, in the shadow of the 13th Century tower of the former St Martin's Church.
Its panes have been smashed and the floor is littered with rubbish and glass. According to staff at the nearly deli it has been like that for at least a week.
Its panes have been smashed and the floor is littered with rubbish and glass. According to staff at the nearly deli it has been like that for at least a week.
Life without a mobile isn't too bad for the SpencersA Chinese teenager who wants to call her mother in Beijing opens the door, takes one look at the mess and decides against it.
Life without a mobile isn't too bad for the SpencersA Chinese teenager who wants to call her mother in Beijing opens the door, takes one look at the mess and decides against it.
But a group of French students are undeterred. They just want a photograph of themselves crammed inside, saying the red phone boxes they see on television are a "symbol of Britain", like the red bus or black taxi.
But a group of French students are undeterred. They just want a photograph of themselves crammed inside, saying the red phone boxes they see on television are a "symbol of Britain", like the red bus or black taxi.
Maybe this is a glimpse of its future, its only function a photo opportunity.
Maybe this is a glimpse of its future, its only function a photo opportunity.
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