Butterflies change in nostalgia and techno-fashion.
Today, with the popularity of smartphones, phone booths have become an iconic memory of the end of the twentieth century. In the contemporary society where everyone has a mobile phone, people rarely recall the scene of the 90s of the last century, when public telephone booths were all over the streets, factories, schools, stations and docks.
Speaking of the history of telephone booths, as early as the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, public telephones appeared in the city, which were divided into two types: self-run and entrusted agents. In the 50s, telephone booths were also successively laid out in major public facilities and scenic spots to facilitate the use of citizens, mainly concentrated in densely populated areas. In the 80s of the 20th century, unattended coin-operated public telephone booths began to appear. In the early 90s, magnetic card public telephones began to emerge, which could make direct calls to local calls and long-distance calls abroad.
With the development of IC phones, smart public phones and other equipment, in the mid-to-late 90s, the development of phone booth business accelerated. In 1995, the number of public telephone subscribers reached 45,500, rising to 145,300 in 1998, 798 times that of the First Five-Year Plan period (1956). The development of public telephones peaked in 2003 and then stabilized. With the advent and popularization of mobile phones and smartphones, the proportion of public telephone calls in fixed telephone voice continued to decline from 2006 to 2008. Gradually withdraw from the mainstream communication market, dismantle or renovate.
With the commercialization of 5G in 2019, public phone booths seem to be an old object that has long been forgotten. However, in some cases, public phone booths still play an important role. The Beijing Municipal Communications Administration told the all-media reporter of the "Communication Industry News" that the roadside public phone booth, as Beijing's urban infrastructure, is one of the carriers that most intuitively shows the style of the capital Beijing. In recent years, Beijing's communication industry has transformed the public telephone booth from a single communication function to a composite urban service function, from basic communication facilities to digital urban furniture, and is committed to activating the market value of basic communication facilities. It is understood that China Unicom cooperated with the Beijing Municipal Government and selected 10 prosperous locations for the pilot construction of digital public phone booths. The digital public phone booth mainly includes basic functions such as voice calls, information screens, light boxes, and 5G micro base stations.
It is located in front of the Xigong Mansion in Xirong Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing. Compared with 3G and 4G, 5G networks need to deploy a larger number of base stations to achieve good coverage, and the installation of 5G small and micro base stations on public phone booths is conducive to revitalizing existing resources and making up for the blind spots of 5G outdoor macro station coverage. As a public infrastructure, the value of the phone booth is also reflected in the emergency function, when wireless communication is limited or other emergencies, the public phone booth plays a temporary alternative emergency role. According to the data, in 2023, the emergency hotline (110, 119, 120, etc.) of public telephone booths in Beijing will be called 17,900 times, with a call duration of 32,500 minutes. The call time of the 12345 citizen service hotline was 34,400 minutes. 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Internet access, as well as the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China Unicom, one of the four major operators in China. Thirty years ago, the installation of home landlines was an expensive "luxury", and public phone booths were the most convenient and main tool for people to call relatives and friends and discuss matters. Today, mobile communications have evolved from 2G to 5G, 5.5G, and 6G. The number of mobile Internet users has reached 1.522 billion, and China Unicom's network communication users have also exceeded 1 billion. Communication equipment has also moved from mobile phones to pan-terminal intelligent connection. The public phone booth carries the memory of an era, witnesses the history, and also changes with the times, changing in nostalgia and technological fashion.
Written by: Cui Liangliang
Photo: Li Song, Beijing Unicom
Information provided by: Wang Xiaotao, Zhejiang Unicom
Edit: Liangliang
Guidance: Xin Wen
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