Rostelecom reports that payphones of the universal communication service continue to rapidly gain popularity in our country: the number and duration of calls from them are growing rapidly.
At present, almost 150 payphones operate in Russia. They are installed in 131 thousand settlements. Moreover, 118 thousand of them, or 80% of the total, are settlements, villages, villages, villages and auls with a population of less than 500 people.
From January 1, 2018, Rostelecom canceled the fee for local telephone connections from payphones. On December 1, 2018, intrazonal calls to landline phones became free. And in November 2019, tariffs for calls to any Russian numbers, including mobile ones, were reset. This literally led to an explosive growth in the popularity of payphones.
Thus, in 2019, the total traffic of local, intrazonal and long-distance telephone connections increased by more than 1,6 times. The total intra-zone traffic in January 2020 increased by 2019 times compared to October 5,5, and long-distance traffic by 3,6 times.
βThe abolition of fees for calls, including mobile numbers, has increased the social significance of payphones not only among residents of the settlements where they are installed. Motorists, tourists, and even those who get lost can call from payphones if there is no mobile connection in the area or the phone is dead, βRostelecom notes.
Source: 3dnews.ru