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Rentable mobile phone chargers have been installed in a handful of public phone booths in Fukuoka, the first endeavor of its kind in the country, NTT West said recently.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corp., alongside the phone charger sharing service Inforich Inc., is now offering portable chargers in eight locations in the city during an approximately six-month trial period starting Friday.
The chargers, installed by the Tokyo-based Inforich, can be returned to a different public phone booth as well as convenience stores that have installed Inforich’s chargers.
Users will pay ¥165 for up to an hour, with the charge rising to ¥330 for a maximum of 48 hours. Before using the devices, an app must be downloaded onto the smartphone.
Japan has around 66,000 public phone booths but the number has been dwindling due to the prevalence of cellphones.
As a new way of utilizing public phone booths, NTT West has also allowed mobile phone operators to set up radio base stations on top of them.
I – Word Understanding
Handful – a small amount or number
Endeavor – a serious effort or attempt to do something
Dwindling – becoming less
Prevalence – being common or widely used
II – Have Your Say
1, When was the last time you used a phone booth? Do you think we still need phone booths?
2, Describe the common characteristics of phone booths in your country / area. How is it different from others?
3, How useful could these portable charges for rent be? Who do you think would benefit this?
4, How do you manage your phone power usage especially when you’re out for a long time?
791 Phone booths get new lease on life in Japan as smartphone charging stations
