Dubai: Who uses a payphone nowadays? Hardly anyone, it appears.
Gulf News could not find a single phone booth occupied over a days-long random search in Dubai recently.
Some residents said they have never used a payphone; others said they can’t remember the last time they did.
Most shops have also stopped selling the Dh30 phone booth card, saying there’s virtually no demand anymore.
“I haven’t used a payphone here in more than 20 years. When I was in school, I used it once in a blue moon to call friends,” said Dubai-based British businessman Mohammad Omar, 38.
Noufal, an Indian expat who works in a shop in Dubai’s Karama area, added: “My shop is near a phone booth — I saw only one man using in it in the past year or so. Why should one look for a booth when you have a phone in your pocket? No one uses payphones anymore.”
According to some shopkeepers, a small — and falling — number of expat labourers buy “a card or two a month” to call back home.
Others said their only customers are those visiting family or friends in jail, where payphones are used by inmates to reach out to the outside world.
According to residents the era of the phone booth appears to be fading into oblivion. The rampant use of mobile phone is considered as the main reason for callers hanging up on payphones. The rise of internet-based free or cheap communication has dealt another blow.
Though payphone rates of UAE phone company Etisalat, which introduced phone booths in the UAE, are lower than its standard landline or standard mobile charges, many residents seem to be uninterested or unaware of that.
According to Etisalat payphone calling rate lists placed on the booths, it costs 50 fils per minute to call India, for instance, any time of day. In comparison, the “normal” postpaid landline and “standard” prepaid mobile rate is Dh2.40.
Even the off-peak landline rate is Dh1.89 — 378 per cent costlier than the payphone “anytime, any day” rate.
Also, the payphone-to-mobile rate is 25 fils a minute, while the mobile-to-mobile rate is 30 fils (0.5 fils a second).
A Bangladeshi labourer said he used to see long queues at phone booths at his workers housing complex in 2005. “Now, we don’t even know where to find one. I use an internet-calling service to talk to family back home. It gives me 15 minutes for one dirham, you can’t beat that.”
His colleague, a Pakistani, added: “There are so many [call] promotion offers for mobile phone users; it’s getting cheaper to use mobiles over payphones. I can call Pakistan for 33 fils a minute, but the payphone rate is 45 fils, I’ve been told.”
Despite repeated requests, no response was available from Etisalat on how many payphones there are in the UAE, or how many phone booth calls were placed per year.
Some booths are no longer operational and can be found in a state of neglect or abuse.
