Status of payphones where I live

[H.Escher]

Greetings,

I just thought I'd share some photos I took of local payphones, or lack thereof. I live in Finland, where the operators have years ago decided to get rid of all the payphones in the country (with the advent of those shellayer phones, now 0.95 of them per capita).

A photo from Helsinki Central Railway Station speaks for itself:



Oddly enough, they have left the "booths" in place with even their little lights on, for several years now. I have seen people talking in their GSMs in there, so apparently they offer some kind of privacy...

I sometimes fancy calling to payphones and watching bypassers' reactions from distance. So I wrote down a number of a phone booth I saw just two weeks ago on the town, for later use. When I called the number a week later to test whether it works, I got an "unallocated number" intercept. I went to see what's going on:



No more phone booth, just total destruction and a construction company ad banner saying "the city works - the city changes". I guess it was the last one in the city.

Thanks for reading my first post all the way through. 

[RijilV]

wow that first photo is great. 

I had heard this was the likely outcome of years of cellphone use.  Obviously Europe is ahead of the good ol' USA in this program.  Too bad.  A decade from now kids might never see a payphone.

 

[rbcp]

I see a lot of pay phone stands without pay phones in them too.  I always guessed that the business owned the stand part of the phone and the phone company owned the pay phone, which is why the stands always remain.  I read somewhere that they were replacing some airport pay phones with cell phone booths.  People sit inside them to talk on their cell phones.  Kind of a neat/weird idea.

[Uncle Bob]

You should submit the first photo to 2600. The mall near me has 3 big red telephone booths without phones, they have become cellphone isloation booths since the phones were taken out though.

[murd0c]

Send me a bottle of Salmiakki Koskenkorva and we'll be friends forever, Escher.

[H.Escher]

You should submit the first photo to 2600. The mall near me has 3 big red telephone booths without phones, they have become cellphone isloation booths since the phones were taken out though.

I'll do that, once I find the forum.

It's indeed sad the payphones are disappearing. Perhaps it hasn't crossed anyone's mind that cell phones won't accept emergency calls if they are low on battery or can't reach the network, whereas payphones always will.

Send me a bottle of Salmiakki Koskenkorva and we'll be friends forever, Escher.

Sounds all too easy.

[murd0c]

I made my own last week, actually. I can't believe I can only get this stuff in Helsinki.

http://www.murd0c.net/pics/salmiakki.jpg

[legend813]

The message body was left empty.

[s1acker]

Yeah that first photo is great. I agree you should submit that to 2600 with the story about how they got rid of all the payphones.

[splynt0r]

The payphones here have only really survived because of the lack of vandalism. they have ripped out a few, but only the least used ones. The airport, station and junction ones have been left intact.

[H.Escher]

Yeah that first photo is great. I agree you should submit that to 2600 with the story about how they got rid of all the payphones.

Thanks, I'm planning on doing that. I know the second photo wasn't really worth posting, but it should have contained a payphone had I arrived in time 

[Mace]

shovel in hand to dig up an old thread..   lonely payphone in Brooklyn, avenue U stop.  not where I live, but I was in the area.  Subways still have a fair amount of payphones, but this line goes outdoors once out of the city. Q train.

[murd0c]

I used to live in Sheepshead Bay, right by where you took that picture. Cool.

[trevelyn]

I made my own last week, actually. I can't believe I can only get this stuff in Helsinki.

http://www.murd0c.net/pics/salmiakki.jpg

wheres that flag from? in the bg?