Vienna loses its last telephone booth: dismantling planned in Taubsmutmengasse!

Vienna loses its last telephone booth: dismantling planned in Taubsmutmengasse!

The telephone booth in Taubstummengasse causes a stir among residents - and not because of its usefulness. Rather, it is very dirty and neglected, the interior is stuffed with cigarettes and plastic bottles. Neighbors have been reporting for years that no one has been seen using the phone there. District leader Lea Halbwidl (SPÖ) has repeatedly pointed out the problems with telephone boxes in the district and announced that the cell will be dismantled in the next few months. A1, the operator, is currently evaluating the dismantling of more and is providing information about the upcoming measures related to the new telecommunications law, which comes into force at the end of the year and in which telephone booths are no longer mentioned. The obligation to provide public telephone stations across the board is therefore no longer necessary. MyDistrict reports that some telephone booths have already been dismantled and converted into bookcases.

There are a total of around 11,000 telephone boxes in Austria, the majority of which, namely 10,000, are public telephone boxes. According to a report by Futurezone Calls via telephone booths have decreased by 97 percent in the last ten years. While 2.8 million minutes were spent on telephone booths in 2017, this compares to over 24 billion minutes on landline and mobile networks. “Usage is falling from year to year and operations have become increasingly unlucrative for A1,” explains Klaus Steinmaurer from RTR. Because of the high mobile phone penetration, the need for telephone booths has fallen drastically.

The change in telephone booths

Where once one telephone booth was installed after another, many cities are now devoting themselves to creative solutions. Some telephone booths in Vienna have already taken on new functions: In addition to open bookcases, some have also been equipped with defibrillators or used as charging stations for electric cars. A1 is no longer obliged to operate the telephone booths, as the cost compensation via the universal service compensation that the company received will no longer apply with the new law.

Social aspects are also important in the current debate. Young people and people with low incomes who rely on cell phones without batteries still find telephone booths as a last point of contact for telephone emergencies. In the future, access to emergency services will primarily be guaranteed via mobile communications. New regulations are intended to ensure that emergency calls are also accessible for deaf people, in particular through the introduction of an SMS emergency call.This shift highlights how our communication habits have changed, and the end of an era in which telephone booths were once indispensable is approaching.