Business

BT to progress removal of almost 200 payphones in the north

No opposition to plans to remove dozens of phone boxes

Two BT phoneboxes in Belfast.
A document published by BT show it has not received any public representations on proposals to remove 192 payphones across the north.

BT is set to progress the removal of 192 payphones across the north.

The telecoms giant originally announced the proposal to cull the public phone boxes in February 2024.

It wrote to all 11 councils in Northern Ireland, offering local authorities an opportunity to made representations if a payphone is still needed in a certain area.

But a BT document detailing its decision process in respect of each phone, suggests no public body in the north has made representations on any of the proposed closures.

Causeway Coast and Glen Borough Council said it ran a 90-day consultation seeking public feedback on the proposals, which ended on May 21 2024.

It said no representations were received.

Research commissioned by BT suggest just 8% of people used a payphone in the past year.

Some 5,052 adults from across the UK took part in the March 2024 survey.

Of the 192 payphones earmarked for removal in the north, BT has only officially only reached a final decision on one: A payphone at Old Cushenden Road at Newtown-Crommelin in Co Antrim.

But the fact that no representations have been made by any public authorities in Northern Ireland, means the outcome of the remaining proposed closures is inevitable.

Of the 900 proposed removal notices made by BT since last year, only six proposed closures have been formally reversed.

The closure list published by BT includes 32 payphones in Belfast City Council; 24 in Newry, Mourne and Down; 21 in Antrim and Newtownabbey and 21 in Ards & North Down.

The rest of the closures are located in: Fermanagh & Omagh (19); Causeway Coast & Glens (18); Mid & East Antrim (15); Mid Ulster (13); Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon (12); Derry City & Strabane (11); and Lisburn & Castlereagh (6).