Even if virtually everyone owns a mobile phone today, payphones can still be spotted sporadically on Chisinau’s streets. Some still operational, but most of them not. In a response offered to IPN, the national telecom operator Moldtelecom says the public phones mostly serve a social purpose today to ensure that the public can make toll-free calls in cases of emergency.

Moldtelecom operates with data last updated in late 2014, which says that the national network had roughly 1,000 payphones, most of them in the capital city.

Calls can be made using special chip cards or prepaid tête-à-tête cards, which can still be bought at Moldtelecom branches. The cards are valid for one year from making the first call. 112 calls are toll-free.

The national operator couldn’t tell how much voice traffic payphones carry today, but admits that the number of users is in continuing decline “due to the development of mobile communications across the country”. Nine in ten calls via payphones are made within the Moldtelecom network.

What about the ugly booths scattered through the city? The City Hall declines responsibility. IPN was told that since payphones are operated by Moldtelecom, it is up for the national operator to repair, maintain or remove unoperational units from the streets.