Fine Gael Community and Rural Affairs Spokesman Michael Ring TD said removing phone boxes without exploring the potential they have to offer is short-sighted. Deputy Ring pointed to the UK where BT has adapted payphones for text, e-mail and internet and offers communities the chance to hang on to their local phone by ‘adopting’ or ‘sponsoring’ the kiosk.
“Eircom has tried to justify the removal of over 2,000 phone boxes around the country by describing payphones as obsolete technology. This is extremely short-sighted. Payphones are part of the social fabric in rural Ireland, badly needed in areas of poor or nil coverage, essential for those on lower incomes without a phone of their own and in cases of emergency. They are also used primarily by tourists and the last thing we should be doing is removing services which our visitors rely on.
“Falling usage need not necessarily mean these phone boxes should be removed, rather it may be an opportunity for them to move with the times. BT in the UK have a range of payphones beyond standard phones for making telephone calls. They have text and e-mail payphones, internet kiosks and text direct phones. This is a way to combine new technology with a community institution. Eircom should have the imagination to explore this instead of removing infrastructure which would all have to be replaced should they come to pursue these ideas in a few years’ time. It’ll be like the tram lines in Dublin all over again, ripped up in the name of progress only to be laid down again years later for the Luas.
“Many communities are also very attached to their payphones both for practical reasons or because they are a landmark feature in their town or village. BT has initiated a scheme where local authorities ‘adopt a kiosk’ for a nominal fee of £1 where the phone mechanism is removed but the kiosk is retained as a local landmark in the ownership of the local authority. There is also an option in the UK to ‘sponsor a kiosk’ where local authorities pay £500 to retain a fully serviced phone kiosk.
“I am calling on the Communications Minister and Eircom to explore options along these lines. Before they strip local communities, especially those in rural areas, of yet another service it is high time they thought outside the phone box.”
