BT extends 'save a threatened phone box' deadline

Councils given more time to reclaim a British insititution...

BT has given local authorities more time to step in to save thousands of iconic red phone boxes that the telco is looking to axe.

Councils now have until 1 November to inform BT whether they want to retain and contribute to the upkeep of phone boxes across the country.

Back in the summer, BT decided to close a significant proportion of its public telephone boxes due to a fall in usage that has led to 60 per cent of the boxes becoming unprofitable.

BT is offering an "adopt a kiosk" scheme whereby councils can pay a nominal fee of £1 to retain those traditional red phone boxes which have been earmarked for removal, minus the telephone.

Alternatively, local authorities can pay £500 per year to BT to maintain phone boxes that are at risk.

A BT spokesman told silicon.com: "Take up's been pretty good and the responses we've had from local authorities is 'can we have a bit more time to look at this?' so it just seemed a reasonable thing to do."

According to BT, there are around 12,000 red phone boxes in the UK, of which 4,500 are under threat of closure.