Public phone boxes a thing of the past in Belgium

The era of the public telephone box has reached its end in Belgium. By next year there will no longer be any public phone boxes available, Belgacom spokesman Jan Margot confirmed in Het Nieuwsblad. Belgacom has decided to remove the last 1,000 or so remaining boxes.

Belgacom had previously obtained permission from the Belgian Institute for Post and Telecommunications (BIPT) to remove the boxes. In the late 1990s, Belgium counted about 18,000 public telephone boxes.

Doing away with the last remaining boxes was a logical decision, according to Margot, who insists that the phones are hardly used any more. Widespread use of mobile phones has removed the need for public telephone booths, he said. Many phone boxes are used for just one call per week.