Telecommunications company eir has announced that it has begun the process of removing the last of the country’s payphone boxes.
Of the 105 remaining units, 11 will become digital kiosks, while the other 94 will be removed over the coming months.
At their peak, there were around 3,300 payphone boxes across Ireland.
In recent years, disused phone boxes have been donated to community groups and repurposed as defibrillator sites, tourism kiosks and even religious shrines.
Eir said that 76 phone kiosks have been converted to rapid electric vehicle chargers, with an additional 66 on the way.
While 60 payphones have already been transformed into digital kiosks, which provide information systems for local authority services including mapping for visitors and locals.
It is almost 100 years since the first phone boxes appeared on Irish streets and as a tribute to the end of the payphone era, eir has refurbished a 100-year-old ‘K1’ kiosk, the first type of payphone box introduced in Ireland.
It is one of only seven known examples in Ireland or the UK and it will be donated for public exhibition this year.
“The public payphone was an important part of our lives for generations and it is fitting that to mark this, we have carefully refurbished one of the original phone boxes and we plan to donate it to a cultural institution where it can be preserved as an integral part of our national heritage,” said eir CEO Oliver Loomes.
“We’ve taken deliberate steps, in collaboration with communities and local authorities, to thoughtfully transition this legacy infrastructure.”
“Our goal has been over the past four years to find the best ways to repurpose or preserve these kiosks, directly involving the communities they serve. We are pleased that more than 200 sites will now keep people connected via new digital pedestals or electric car charging points,” Mr Loomes said.
The Universal Service Obligation (USO) for the provision of public payphones was removed in 2020 due to steady decline in usage.”The phase-out decision was based on extensive analysis of usage patterns, with data showing a consistent decrease in demand,” said Una Stafford, Managing Director of open eir Networks.
“The removal of the last payphone boxes by the end of this year is a symbolic step towards a more connected, digital future.”
“While we close this chapter in Ireland’s telecommunication history, we open another, focusing on innovative solutions that align with the needs of our communities and the environment,” Ms Stafford said.
