Belgium’s last pay phone removed at weekend

After one of the last pay phones in the country was removed before the weekend in Mons, the last remaining booth, in the Middelheimlaan in Antwerp, was also removed on Sunday, report Belgian media. Telecom operator Proximus notes that the telephones were hardly used anymore and therefore generate no revenue.

Due to the widespread use of mobile phones, the public telephone booth quickly became obsolete in Belgium, which once had 18,000 pay phones. In the late 1990s a pay phone was used for 15 hours per month on average, but three years ago this number fell to just 14 minutes per month.

Until recently, Proximus insisted on keeping several pay phones available as a public service, but the Belgian government finally decided that they are no longer necessary.