Regulator Ofcom has brought in new rules to protect rural phone boxes from being axed. The telecoms regulator says it will stop BT (British Telecom) from closing phone boxes in areas with poor mobile phone signals if they are needed by the local community.
The BBC reports there are around 1,400 phone boxes in areas that do not have good mobile phone coverage. A drop from the 5,000 it thought would be protected under the new rules.
Ofcom is also due to protect phone boxes in areas with high frequencies of accidents or suicides, or where services like Childline are regularly used. It is unclear how many phone boxes this would save.
