Belgians shun telephone boxes

15 March 2004

BRUSSELS – The number of Belgians who regularly use public telephone boxes has plummeted by 76 percent since 1998, Belgian news agency Belga reported on Monday.

The exploding mobile telephone market is responsible for this mass rejection of old-style call boxes, the agency added.

According to Belga, 86 percent of Belgium’s 14, 785 telephone boxes are no longer profitable, causing state telecoms company Belgacom to lose EUR 27 million a year in maintenance charges.

The government is currently investigating the possibility of reducing the number of phone boxes in Belgium and using the money saved to provide affordable, country-wide mobile telephone services.

Subject: Belgian news