Yes, they're at it again, more public telephone kiosks are to be removed from our streets and other public areas.

As mobiles become more and more popular, the public telephone kiosk gets hit - but surely this latest cutback plan is a step too far?

BT now has powers to remove a kiosk, for whatever reason it deems suitable (e.g. vandalism, lack of profit from that kiosk) as long as there is one within a 400 metre radius, previously 100 metres, and they don't even have to display a notice in the unfortunate kiosks - how come? Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, have changed the rules, at BT's request, and now, delight.

And now it's even harder to complain about a kiosks' removal, as now it's only the county councils' job to decide whether a kiosk can go, previously, it was the county council, town/city and/or parish council that decided - something people don't agree with. North Devon MP, Nick Harvey says that its important for local communities to be able to object if there were good grounds to do so. "If any group is to lose its right to veto the county council should lose it, but not the parish council" said another Devon MP.

Some kiosks that are staying might be turned into cashless facilities, which means they only be used by people with a phone card, and for calling the oporator or requesting an emergency service. Although this restricts the useage of the telephone, at least there is still a public telephone available, as one resident in a town that is having one of their kiosks converted to this said " A cashless phone is better than no phone at all".

But what about people who cannot receive a mobile signal? Who rely on a public telephone? Will BT make exceptions for this? In parts of Dartmoor, for instance, there is no mobile signal, yet BT are still planning to remove kiosks there, and the park authority is trying to keep as many as possible.

At the moment its not yet known which kiosks are going, and if we'll know, thanks to BT and Ofcom.

What's your view on this? Talk about it in our forums - click here.