Public Telephones
in Cambodia

21 March 2009

Cambodia is the first country in the world where the number of mobile phones surpassed the number of fixed or landline phones.  That's because Cambodia was so late in getting phones, it was decided to just jump over the landline generation.  As a consequence the kingdom has never had public telephone booths out on the street.  The country didn't even have enough phones for anyone to call until relatively recently.

Now as the mobile phone culture has proliferated, entrepreneurs have sprung up on the streets offering telephone service via mobile phones. They take their own mobile phone, buy some prepaid minutes, and then set up a "telephone booth" or "telephone box," as the British would say, and they're in business, charging customers per call.  The booths are empty, just identifying the location of a telephone for use.  The numbers indicate which networks can be called and how much it costs.  Each telephone company has its own network and a different area code.

Many people with other streetside businesses have installed the phone service to generate extra income.

 


Corner telephone box

Telephone service with soft drinks from the cooler.

New Hello telephone service

The latest telephone operator in Cambodia is Hello with its distinctive yellow color

 


Setting up in the morning

Setting up for business in the morning

Restaurant with telephone service

Telephone service for a food stall

 


Telephone with motorcycle repair

Telephone service at the bike shop

Telephone service and parking lot

Telephone service in the parking lot

 


Setting up in the morning

Putting up an umbrella for the customers

Waiting for customers

Waiting for customers


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