4 ms·

One of the few good things that Telstra did in Australia was open up their whole old payphone network for free, nationwide. Apparently they're a genuine lifeli

One of the few good things that Telstra did in Australia was open up their whole old payphone network for free, nationwide. Apparently they're a genuine lifeline for people fleeing from abusive relationships; they need to leave their mobile behind to avoid being tracked.

bigstrat2003 5mo ago
I wish we had that in the US. Not due to abuse victims per se (though that does sound super useful for them), but just because it would be nice to not have to carry a cell phone to get ahold of people.
- WarcrimeActual 5mo ago
  The US is functionally a Third World country now. There are so many places worse than us that have so many better things. Anytime you see a little thing like this that is a good idea and helps people you can just assume that America would either fuck it up or just hate it because it helps people. Or because of the fact that they can’t ring every penny from the stone.
  - Spooky23 5mo ago
    It’s hard to appreciate this until you spend some time elsewhere. I was in Barcelona for a few weeks for work. While I don’t want to pretend there are no problems, I can only say that life seemed better and happier than back home. I didn’t sense the cynicism that I’m used to. It was especially jarring considering that pretty much everyone is underpaid by American professional standards. That said, it’s anecdotal, I speak mediocre Spanish and toddler level Catalan, and my boss was paying the bill. But it was still striking to me.
    - KetoManx64 5mo ago
      I image locals don't spend a lot of time discussing their hardships, political views and economics with the visiting gringos
      - mdhen 5mo ago
        Gringos is not a term that Spaniards use. It's Latin American.
    - CalRobert 5mo ago
      It varies. Obviously not Spain, but I lived in Ireland (a place Americans romanticize) for a decade and there was abundant cynicism. I got tired of mentioning ideas and plans to people and immediately hearing how they could fail. With friends from California (and Oregon) the response to "I want to build a house" wasn't "that will fail, here's why it's a bad idea, you will go bankrupt, only pros know how to do that" but "hell yeah I'll bring a nailgun!".
  - Telemakhos 5mo ago
    Urban life in the US had decayed considerably over the past thirty years. Life in the suburbs, small towns, and countryside, however, is amazing. I have a house in the countryside and rent in a city in another state when I need to be in the office. In the city I have to step over addicts passed out and their trash; in the country I don't bother locking my doors when I leave, and I have cheaper, faster, and more reliable internet. You can't really compare "America" to another country, because the cities and other places have radically different standards of living.
    - onetokeoverthe 5mo ago
      [dead]
HDBaseT 5mo ago
I remember reading some stats on the Telstra phone boxes, they help a lot of people in need. A ton of calls go to emergency services, government services, etc. I would be keen to know the total cost to run and maintain everything. There is a ton of boxes still around.
- askvictor 5mo ago
  The costs are offset by the fact of the boxes providing free advertising for Telstra. That's the main reason they keep them operational.
- xattt 5mo ago
  > A ton of calls go to emergency services, government services, etc. Is it common for providers to charge for emergency service access? I thought this was a given.
  - dwattttt 5mo ago
    I believe emergency services calls are free. The cost being talked about is the maintenance cost to the provider.
  - toast0 5mo ago
    My voip line has a charge for (e)911. I can pay $1.50 per month or $75 per call. Since my local police department has no direct dial number, non-emergency calls are routed through 911; that's pretty unusual, but I don't want to pay $75 to call police non-emergency, so I pay the $1.50. I've never seen emergency calling broken out on my bill from an ILEC though.
    - saltmate 5mo ago
      How often do you have to call the police?
      - Computer0 5mo ago
        I call 911 about every 6 months for non-occupational related incidents. Usually random arson incidents I come across (?), watching drunk people drive through folks mailboxes and get stuck in ditches, and medical events.
ctaloi 5mo ago
Getting the correct keys to pay phones in the US seems to be a challenge.
softveda 5mo ago
That and most of the pay phone booths are now free public WiFi hotspots.
QuantumNomad_ 5mo ago
Telstra also provides WiFi access points to the proximity of many of their phone booths, which is very cool as well. In my country we don’t have operational phone booths any longer, and haven’t had them for many, many years. They even went as far in my country as to dismantle and remove all of them save for a few that are still around for sentimental reasons but also not operational.
- onetokeoverthe 5mo ago
  [dead]
anitil 5mo ago
Do you know why they did this? I wonder if they worked out that the advertising space was more valuable than retiring the service, or some other reason

bigstrat2003 5mo ago

I wish we had that in the US. Not due to abuse victims per se (though that does sound super useful for them), but just because it would be nice to not have to carry a cell phone to get ahold of people.

WarcrimeActual 5mo ago
The US is functionally a Third World country now. There are so many places worse than us that have so many better things. Anytime you see a little thing like this that is a good idea and helps people you can just assume that America would either fuck it up or just hate it because it helps people. Or because of the fact that they can’t ring every penny from the stone.
- Spooky23 5mo ago
  It’s hard to appreciate this until you spend some time elsewhere. I was in Barcelona for a few weeks for work. While I don’t want to pretend there are no problems, I can only say that life seemed better and happier than back home. I didn’t sense the cynicism that I’m used to. It was especially jarring considering that pretty much everyone is underpaid by American professional standards. That said, it’s anecdotal, I speak mediocre Spanish and toddler level Catalan, and my boss was paying the bill. But it was still striking to me.
  - KetoManx64 5mo ago
    I image locals don't spend a lot of time discussing their hardships, political views and economics with the visiting gringos
    - mdhen 5mo ago
      Gringos is not a term that Spaniards use. It's Latin American.
  - CalRobert 5mo ago
    It varies. Obviously not Spain, but I lived in Ireland (a place Americans romanticize) for a decade and there was abundant cynicism. I got tired of mentioning ideas and plans to people and immediately hearing how they could fail. With friends from California (and Oregon) the response to "I want to build a house" wasn't "that will fail, here's why it's a bad idea, you will go bankrupt, only pros know how to do that" but "hell yeah I'll bring a nailgun!".
- Telemakhos 5mo ago
  Urban life in the US had decayed considerably over the past thirty years. Life in the suburbs, small towns, and countryside, however, is amazing. I have a house in the countryside and rent in a city in another state when I need to be in the office. In the city I have to step over addicts passed out and their trash; in the country I don't bother locking my doors when I leave, and I have cheaper, faster, and more reliable internet. You can't really compare "America" to another country, because the cities and other places have radically different standards of living.
  - onetokeoverthe 5mo ago
    [dead]

HDBaseT 5mo ago

I remember reading some stats on the Telstra phone boxes, they help a lot of people in need. A ton of calls go to emergency services, government services, etc. I would be keen to know the total cost to run and maintain everything. There is a ton of boxes still around.

askvictor 5mo ago
The costs are offset by the fact of the boxes providing free advertising for Telstra. That's the main reason they keep them operational.
xattt 5mo ago
> A ton of calls go to emergency services, government services, etc. Is it common for providers to charge for emergency service access? I thought this was a given.
- dwattttt 5mo ago
  I believe emergency services calls are free. The cost being talked about is the maintenance cost to the provider.
- toast0 5mo ago
  My voip line has a charge for (e)911. I can pay $1.50 per month or $75 per call. Since my local police department has no direct dial number, non-emergency calls are routed through 911; that's pretty unusual, but I don't want to pay $75 to call police non-emergency, so I pay the $1.50. I've never seen emergency calling broken out on my bill from an ILEC though.
  - saltmate 5mo ago
    How often do you have to call the police?
    - Computer0 5mo ago
      I call 911 about every 6 months for non-occupational related incidents. Usually random arson incidents I come across (?), watching drunk people drive through folks mailboxes and get stuck in ditches, and medical events.

ctaloi 5mo ago

Getting the correct keys to pay phones in the US seems to be a challenge.

softveda 5mo ago

That and most of the pay phone booths are now free public WiFi hotspots.

QuantumNomad_ 5mo ago

Telstra also provides WiFi access points to the proximity of many of their phone booths, which is very cool as well. In my country we don’t have operational phone booths any longer, and haven’t had them for many, many years. They even went as far in my country as to dismantle and remove all of them save for a few that are still around for sentimental reasons but also not operational.

onetokeoverthe 5mo ago
[dead]

anitil 5mo ago

Do you know why they did this? I wonder if they worked out that the advertising space was more valuable than retiring the service, or some other reason