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Cut off: The last telephone booths in Hanoi

By Ngoc Thanh   July 15, 2017 | 11:11 pm PT
Just five booths are left standing in the city, and all of them are disconnected.
Telephone booths first made presence in Hanoi in late 1990s. By 2003, the city owned around 11,000 booths.

Telephone booths first appeared in Hanoi in the late 1990s. By 2003, the city was home to around 11,000 booths.
With the invasion of mobile phones, the phone booth soon became outdated. In December 2012, public phone service was terminated nationwide, the telephone booths were also dismantled.

With the invasion of mobile phones, telephone booths were soon forgotten. In December 2012, public phone services were officially terminated across the country, and booths were dismantled.
There are only five phone boxes left in Hanoi, located in Thanh Xuan district. All of them are out of order.

There are only five phone boxes left in Hanoi, located in Thanh Xuan District. All of them are out of order.
Time, weather and other external impacts contributed to the rusty public phone.

No operation, no maintainance. The phone boxes have been left to rust. 
The handset is also covered in dust.

A handset covered in dust.
For some Hanoians of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the blue phone box is just a part of the memory.

For many Hanoians, the blue phone boxes are now just a memory.

Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

 
 
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