BT has announced it wants to scrap 125 phone boxes across Staffordshire. It is planning to close one in 10 of them in the county because of a lack of demand partly caused by the popularity of mobile phones.
The company has defended the decision, saying it cannot afford to keep them going, and it also denied that anybody's lifeline will be taken away.
BT stressed that phone boxes which are the only ones serving an area are not under threat.
The director of the company's pay phones, Paul Hendron, said: "When we looked across Staffordshire, we saw that quite a number aren't being used.
"So do they fulfil a particular need in the community?
"Are they a lifeline for people who don't have other means of communication?
"If so, we leave them. If they're one of a number, we reduce them."