From The Daily Telegraph 13th July 2010.......

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/7885557/Phonebox-minimum-call-charge-jumps-by-50pc-to-60p.html

Phonebox minimum call charge jumps by 50pc to 60p
The minimum price for making a call from a phone box leapt by 50 per cent to 60p, an increase of more than ten times the rate of inflation.


By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor
Published: 6:30AM BST 13 Jul 2010


Last month, BT has increased the minimum call charge from 40p to 60p, raising fears that some vulnerable consumers and communities could be hit hard.

The cost of making a call from phone boxes has risen dramatically over the last decade. In 2000 the cost was 10p, a sum which should have risen to just 13p if it had increased in line with inflation.



BT, which owns and operates the call boxes, said the sharply higher prices were necessary to fund their expensive upkeep and that very few consumers still used them.

However, some said the high prices would damage those few that still relied on phone boxes, especially in rural areas where mobile phone reception was poor.

Jill Grieve, at the Countryside Alliance, said: “Having lost Post Offices, pubs, banks and bus routes, and having seen rocketing fuel prices make running a car a cripplingly expensive exercise, the digital divide seems to be the final frontier of difficulty for rural residents.

"We live in the age of communication and yet, assuming you can even find a phone box, making a call from the countryside is now disproportionately more expensive than anywhere else in the country. No one in the countryside expects special treatment from service providers – just equal treatment to those in urban areas, yet this still proves elusive.”

The number of calls made from a phonebox has fallen dramatically in recent years as more and more people have a mobile phone, with 25 per cent fewer calls made last year on the year before. However, 200,000 calls a day are still made from the 56,000 remaining phone boxes.

BT argued that 60 per cent of all boxes lose money because they cost £750 a year to maintain each one, with theft and vandalism costing a further £7 million a year.

Though the minimum price has increased to 60p, callers can now use the phone for 30 minutes after paying this minimum amount.

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~ Edited by Dave: Hyperlink to news story added

Chiefly it's the upsurge in mobile phone usage and therefore the drop-off in usage of public payphones that's done it. I think that this is quite inevitable now that these things are run on a profit driven basis where the price charged is what the market can stand, rather than it being a public utility where its primary objective is providing a service.

The cost of calls from public phones is rising everywhere, so I'm not sure what this has to do with the "digital divide" between rural and urban residents. I thought that phone boxes were being removed on the basis that they were the most infrequently used (least profitable) ones, and not that they happen to be in a particular location.

sherbert wrote on Jul 13^th, 2010 at 8:44am:

From The Daily Telegraph 13th July 2010....... Though the minimum price has increased to 60p, callers can now use the phone for 30 minutes after paying this minimum amount.

If they're calling an 01, 02 or 03 number.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7916691/Village-clubs-together-to-reconnect-red-phone-box-which-charges-1p-per-minute.html



Village clubs together to reconnect red phone box which charges 1p per minute
A village has clubbed together to reconnect a traditional red telephone box which now charges just 1p per minute for calls.


By Laura Roberts
Published: 7:30AM BST 30 Jul 2010


The abandoned K6 phone box in Northlew, Devon was disconnected by BT last year but has been recommissioned after locals agreed to fund £15 per month for its reconnection.

It is now the cheapest call box in Britain. Calls cost a minimum of 20p allowing the user to talk to someone anywhere in the world, including to mobile phones, for up to 20 minutes.


The charge is so low because the village has reconnected using a BT business rate landline and is not seeking to make a profit on calls.

Northlew villagers have banded together to secure better services in the past.

Until last year they were among 1.8 million UK residents who could not get broadband because they were too far from the exchange.

The residents were finally connected on Christmas Eve 2009 after one inhabitant set up his own company, Northlew Community Broadband (NCB), to become a service provider for the whole village.

Christopher Marson, 31, director of NCB, said: "We are actually the first community in the UK to do this and also we are the cheapest call box in the UK, offering calls, anywhere in the world, for one pence a minute.

"In any isolated community in rural Britain you lose services. This is about returning them. The calls are cheaper than in some people's homes."

Jane Colbourne, chairwoman of Northlew Parish Council, said: "It's great for morale in the village. We were so disappointed when BT disconnected the line, especially in an area where we have really bad mobile phone coverage."

Last year Northlew - which is seven miles from Okehampton and has a population of around 630 people - lost its Post Office and shop as well as the telephone box.

Mr Marson, an IT consultant, said other rural villages around the country were keen to get help with getting broadband and keeping the red boxes.

He said: "We have shown that just because you live in a rural community, doesn't mean you have to accept a lower standard of living."

For further information on bringing broadband to rural areas visit www.westcoastbroadband.net.

sherbert wrote on Jul 30^th, 2010 at 9:39am:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7916691/Village-clubs-together-to-reconnect-red-phone-box-which-charges-1p-per-minute.html Village clubs together to reconnect red phone box which charges 1p per minute A village has clubbed together to reconnect a traditional red telephone box which now charges just 1p per minute for calls. By Laura Roberts Published: 7:30AM BST 30 Jul 2010 The abandoned K6 phone box in Northlew, Devon was disconnected by BT last year but has been recommissioned after locals agreed to fund £15 per month for its reconnection. It is now the cheapest call box in Britain. Calls cost a minimum of 20p allowing the user to talk to someone anywhere in the world, including to mobile phones, for up to 20 minutes. …

This complements the Broadband install will cost couple £45,000 thread nicely.

Now that telecommunications is an industry operated for private gain, it is obvious that people in rural areas will either have to pay more, loose out or have services subsidised. The cost of putting in the network for relatively few people means that, per subscriber, costs are higher.


Going back to the comment made in the article in the OP:

Quote:

Jill Grieve, at the Countryside Alliance, said: […] "We live in the age of communication and yet, assuming you can even find a phone box, making a call from the countryside is now disproportionately more expensive than anywhere else in the country. No one in the countryside expects special treatment from service providers – just equal treatment to those in urban areas, yet this still proves elusive.”

What does "equal treatment" mean here?

If it means the same retail price, then that would amount to a heavier discounted price in rural areas. Or to look at it another way, it would mean urban subscribers subsidising the service received by those in rural areas.

The only way that can ever happen is because BT is forced to provide a service through its Universal Service Obligation (USO). This is because networks are built where providers can generate an income with them, which is not in the countryside!


I would be very interested to learn of how the network was built in the first place. We owe where we are now (universal landline coverage) to what happened in the past.

What if we were to be at square one now with the stragegy that exists now?

sherbert wrote on Jul 30^th, 2010 at 9:39am:

Village clubs together to reconnect red phone box which charges 1p per minute ...

A classic example of the "Big Society". Small groups of individuals who recognise a common interest and have the resources to do something about it. This also connects with recent comments on broadband as posted here.

We will doubtless see lots of stories like this in the coming years. Some will see this as showing that there is such a thing as society; those with higher ambitions for mankind will continue to fight for something much better.