topic 2.2: BT plots end of the line for phone boxes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1426806,00.html

This is an article on the traditional red phone boxes. Sixty percent of those are making loss: one phone box is used by just sixteen persons per year. This is mainly due to the growth of mobile phone use. The red phone boxes are mainly used by old-pensioners and pining lovers, or when a mobile phone has no signal and a phone call has to be made. Inhabitants of the country that is well-known for it's red phone boxes think it is dreadful to loose the boxes, but on the other hand they find it too expensive to use: 30p per minute. BT, the company that runs the phone boxes will raise the issues -keeping the loss-making boxes or not- with Ofcom.

I found this a funny article. I can imagine that when you are sent to make a 600 word piece on red phone boxes you will get ironic. Taken that aside, what is my opinion on the phone boxes? Should they be removed or not? First of all, I think it is a shame to get rid of something that is part of the British culture, or at least something that stands for it in other countries. Second, there are still people without a mobile phone. Is this possible? Yes it is, although there are not so many left anymore, but for these people, and the pensioners and those pining lovers the red phone boxes should remain, let alone for emergencies. On the other hand, I do understand BT also. I think it is quite clear for them: they do not make any money on them, loss even. Lowering the cost of the use of the phone will not make much of a difference: people still have their mobiles, and if a call has to be made, it will be made, whether it costs 30p or 2p. I think, take a look on how many times a year a phone box has been used, and how many other boxes are nearby, and then cut down the number of phone boxes, if they really have to.