Ukrtelecom to disconnect all street payphones

"The development of various communication channels has led to a decrease in demand for once-in-demand payphone services. Ukrtelecom has decided to discontinue the provision of fixed-line telephony services from payphones from February 1, 2020," the report reads.

In 2017, there were about 900,000 minutes of calls via payphones every month, whereas in 2019, there were less than 380,000 minutes. This is many times less, which is quite understandable. After all, due to the availability of modern services (mobile communication, communicators, managers, etc.), payphone services have lost their social significance.

Today, the network includes about 4,800 payphones, and almost all of them are located in cities. On average, only about 2.5 minutes of calls are made from one payphone per day.

"It is worth noting that the equipment used on the payphone network is physically and morally outdated and is not produced in Ukraine at all, and this causes difficulties in operation. Over the past few years, payphone service has been unprofitable. In addition, there have recently been repeated requests to the company from different entities and organizations regarding the placement of payphones on a commercial basis, that is Ukrtelecom paying rent for their placement," the company said.

At the same time, the operator will focus on the modernization and development of the telecommunications infrastructure in order to provide customers with up-to-date services, including fiber-optic Internet.

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