Under BT plans, 190 phone boxes in Powys could be closed after the company labelled them 'unprofitable'.

Powys has 478 phone boxes, 435 of which operate at a loss. The boxes earmarked for closure add up to around 40 per cent of that figure.
BT has identified 94 boxes in Brecon and Radnorshire and a further 96 in Montgomeryshire for closure.

However, the boxes offer an important service to people living in areas where mobile phone signal isn't reliable, and their loss would have a detrimental effect on the communities they serve; a fact recognised by councillors at a meeting on July 9.

Cllr Gareth Morgan said: "BT is a private company and it reports only to shareholders, however is there not an obligation to keep offering some kind of public service?"

Politicians from all sides are united in fighting closures.
Glyn Davies, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Montgomeryshire, said: "It is shocking that BT proposes to close 40% of the telephone boxes in Powys.

"I accept that where a phone box is no longer used, the case for closure is strong, but I do not believe that every loss making phone box should be closed.

"BT is a hugely wealthy business and I believe there is a case for retaining phone boxes where there is no consistent mobile signal, even if they are making a small loss."

Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon & Radnorshire agreed: "It is essential that BT considers removal of phone boxes not purely on usage and economic viability but also on issues of public safety.

"It is misleading for BT to say that little used payphones are no longer needed as most people have mobile phones.

"Large areas of Powys have limited or no network coverage and batteries can loose their charge.

"Even if they are only used once or twice a week they still have the potential to save lives.

"BT has an obligation to maintain a network of pay phones on the grounds of public safety and social inclusion not on economic viability."

A spokesman for BT said: "We`re committed to meeting our obligation to providing a public payphone service, but the demand there once was just isn`t there any more - usage has halved in the last two years.

"Where we no longer believe a kiosk is needed then we seek to remove it.
"This has been the case for a number of years because of the continuing decline in payphone usage (primarily due to increasing use of mobile phones).

"We write to the local authority to obtain consent to remove any kiosk which has an alternative payphone within 400 metres.
"If there is a clear social need for any of these payphones, then they won't be removed.

"In the case of Powys, we are consulting with the local authority over 190 kiosks (out of a total of 478), of which about a third make less than one call a month.

"More than 20 of the kiosks haven't made a single call in the past year."
Many others have raised fears about what could happen if too many boxes are removed.

Gwilym Williams, from Newbridge on Wye, said phone boxes are vital: "Where I live, we can't rely on being able to get a signal on our mobile phones, so if we need to use the phone for an emergency a phone box is an essential lifeline.

"It's clearly about money. Maybe BT should think about the hugely important service these phone boxes offer, and not their bottom line."

David Cook from the St Johns Ambulance First Responder team said if the phone boxes are taken away, it could have serious implications: "There are so many parts of Mid Wales without mobile phone signal, so we could well end up needing to use a payphone in a potentially life or death situation.

"If they are taken away, who knows what might happen. I shudder to think.

"They are a lifeline for people in rural areas, and one day they could end up saving your life.

"I'd urge BT to think about these things before they start removing payphones from Mid Wales."

Lynn Brown from Mountain Rescue Cymru worries about the consequences if people aren't able to use their mobile phones when in danger: "A lot of the time in areas of challenging geography people can't get signal, but even if they can it's not unusual for people to forget to charge their phones up fully before they go trekking up a mountain.

"Of course payphones have a vital role to play in the publics safety. We have had many a call from a payphone over the years from people in danger.

"They've saved a lot of lives."

The consultation period for Powys ends on September 6.