Payphone - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

In the UK, as in the USA, payphones have been deregulated. The great majority of them are still operated by British Telecom but there are other providers, mostly in urban areas. Manchester, London, Cardiff and Glasgow at the turn of the 21st century have a greater concentration of non-BT payphones. BT has steadily been removing payphones throughout the UK since 2000 where BT deem the kiosks not to be profitable, and have few or no calls made in any given financial year.

Kiosk adoption

BT however is offering local communities the option of adopting the iconic Red K6 Kiosks due to strong opposition from the communities that the kiosks reside in. This will mean the removal of the phone, leaving the empty kiosk in-situ. A bizarre feature of the adoption contract is section 5.5.4 which prohibits the re-installation of a telephone in the kiosk. BT has been asked to delete section 5.5.4 (because it is anti-competitive) but it has refused. Ofcom has been asked to refer the matter to the Competition Commission but Ofcom has refused to make the referral.

Sponsored kiosk

Another option BT has provided is the sponsored kiosk, that will retain the phone service, and retain the kiosk for an annual fee of around £300 +VAT, whether it is the Red K6 or the newer Aluminium and Glass Kiosks that cannot be adopted.

Pricing

From June 1, 2010, BT payphones have £0.60 minimum charge which buys the first 30 minutes of any direct dialled national geographic call. Previously the minimum charge was £0.40 for the first 20 minutes of any direct dialled national geographic call. Then before November 2006 the minimum charge was £0.30, before 2004 it was £0.20 and before 2000 it was £0.10. However, making a call using a credit/debit card incurs a minimum charge of £1.20, and includes 1 minute of call time, £0.20 per minute thereafter, as of September 2011.

A BT Chargecard is a considerably cheaper way to call from any UK landline, including Payphones. Other cards which can be used are the Post Office phonecard, Tesco international calling card and many other telephone cards which can be bought from newsagents.

The high cost of calls is a deterrent to use and has led to allegations of closure by stealth.