IN an age of ubiquitous mobile phones it seems not even Superman uses public phone booths these days.

But with call rates plummeting 20 per cent a year if you think Coasties would be happy to see public phones go the way of carrier pigeons­, think again.

There are just 229 Telstra pay phones on the Coast, 131 in Gosford City and 98 in Wyong Shire, servicing a population of 312,186 as of the last Census.

Telstra does not reveal how much it costs to maintain public phones — often the target of mindless vandalism — nor does it disclose its revenues from the dwindling number of calls made.

However, Telstra is required by law under its Universal Service Obligation (USO) to ensure every Australian who wants access to a standard phone service is able to get one.

The USO is paid for through a mixture of government funding and industry levies with last year’s total funding reaching nearly $250 million — Telstra contributes $140 million.

media_camera The pay phone at The Entrance. Last year the Federal Government propped up Telstra’s national pay phone network with a whopping $40 million. Picture by Peter Lorimer.

Last year the Federal Government further tipped about $40 million into propping up Telstra’s national pay phone network, which saw the number of phones drop by almost­ 300 from 17,805 in July 2014 to 17,511 in June 2015.

On average, the additional funding equated to more than $2200 per phone or $523,099 on the Coast alone.

“Payphone providers throughout the developed world have experienced a decline­ in usage which has impacted the total number of payphone services as well as revenue from payphones,” a Telstra spokesman said.

“Telstra’s experience is in line with global trends. Payphone usage in Australia, for both Telstra and private payphones, has been declining since 2000. This has been driven by the saturation of mobile devices across our population and access to new communication methods; email, social media, etc.

“Telstra forecasts a continuing decline in call usage of 20 per cent or more per annum.”

media_camera The pay phone at The Entrance was a bit of a mystery for Toby Gray, 9. Picture by Peter Lorimer.

An Express Advocate straw poll of payphone usage at Lakeside Plaza on Dening St, at The Entrance, found while the overwhelming majority of people rarely if ever used them, they would hate to see them go completely.

“When I didn’t have a phone, I used to use one, every time I broke my phone,” Jorja Cameron, 18, of Bateau Bay, said.

“The last time was about a year ago. I think they’re good if anyone gets stuck and they have spare change. People have used my phone, I get approached by everyone.”

Grace Burgin, 18, of Toowoon Bay, said she was like a lot of young people who resorted­ to payphones when the prepaid credit on their mobiles ran out.

“I still use them a fair bit when I run out of credit to call a taxi and that sort of thing,” she said.

“Actually I’d use one for a week out of every month. I usually put a dollar in and see how I go or I’ll just reverse call mum.”

For the younger generation, the whole thing was a bit of a mystery.

“Pay phone? What are they, is that like a phone you put money in?” Toby Gray, 9, of Northbridge told the Express­ Advocate.

When was the last time you used a pay phone?