Telstra Payphones Get New Lease at Life

The life of Telstra payphones has been extended for another 20 years. The federal government has entered into a $40-million deal with Telstra.

Under the arrangement, the federal government would pay Telstra for the maintenance of these public payphones. Private payphones are a different issue.

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy said there are some 35,000 payphones in the country. Close to 19,000 payphones are owned by Telstra while the rest is located in shopping centers, hotels and busy districts. These are managed by private businesses.

Despite the new lease at life, Australians are using less and less of payphones because of the increasing popularity of mobile phones. Some, however, still want payphones in case of an emergency.

Calls using Telstra phones declined 18 million from 113 million in 2009. Calls using private payphones have similarly declined five million in the same period of 2009 and 2010.

Industry observers believe that payphones are dead. The cost of maintaining payphones is also expensive with a $40 monthly rental fee plus the amount needed to purchase payphones.