For Just The Cost Of A (Starbucks) Coffee A Day, You Could Save A Pay Phone Booth…

It’s been nearly a decade or so since the rise of mobile phones began to impact the payphone industry — and we’ve seen all sorts of creative attempts to save payphone booths in one form or another — from turning them into music download stations or WiFi hotspots. Then, there’s the idea of simply changing phone booths into places for mobile phone callers to go, so they’re not quite so annoying, talking on the phone where everyone can hear them. Over in the UK, things are even worse, as the distinctive red iconic telephone booths has a much stronger cultural connection that has many upset at the demise of the phone booth.

So, what BT has come up with a different sort of strategy for rescuing the red phone booths: getting local gov’ts to pay out of sympathy. Yes, BT is telling local councils that they can “adopt” a red phone booth and keep it alive for just £500 per year (about $1,000). I’m almost surprised they didn’t open up the offering to individuals as well. I’m sure there are some folks who would pay to keep the phone booths alive.

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