在手机普及的时代伦敦为何还保留着电话亭

The UK's first phone boxes started popping up in 1921, with the iconic red design appearing five years later. At their peak in 1992, BT operated 92,000 of them.

英国首批公用电话亭从1921年开始出现，标志性的红色设计在五年后才面世。在1992年的鼎盛时期，由英国电信集团运营的电话亭有9万2千座。

But as mobiles became part of everyday life, many phone kiosks were removed or re-used for services like community libraries and pop-up coffee shops. There are now just 21,000 payphones left.

但随着手机成为日常生活的一部分，很多电话亭被相继拆除或改造成社区图书馆和快闪咖啡馆等用途。现在只剩下2万1千台公用电话了。

Ofcom wants to protect 5,000 phone boxes, particularly in poor mobile coverage1 areas. It says they still provide a valuable emergency function, with 150,000 999 calls made from phone boxes last year.

英国通信管理局希望保护5000座电话亭，特别是在移动信号覆盖率低的地区。该机构表示，这些电话亭仍提供宝贵的紧急求救功能，去年通过公用电话亭拨打的英国999紧急求救电话就有15万通。