Since the end of March, residents of Grenoble have been able to make calls via… telephone booths. In a report by France 3, the collective behind the project explains its approach.
In Grenoble (Rhône-Alpes), a small construction stands out in the landscape and offers a nostalgic parenthesis to the inhabitants. And for good reason! They have the option of making calls via phone booths.
A rejection of digitization
The installation of these kiosks in the streets of Isère was made possible thanks to the International Observatory for the reinstallation of telephone booths ( OIRCT ). Through this project, the collective fights against the digitization of everyday life, in particular the omnipresence of the mobile phone.
«The cabins are above all a symbol of refusal of digitization and excessive digitization» , explains Vincent, member of the OIRCT, to our colleagues from France 3.
Before adding: “Today, we are more and more obliged to have a laptop, which is more a smartphone” . The first infrastructure was installed at the end of March, in the Marliave park, specifies the information site.
The cabins are powered by a battery and a SIM card
Twenty years ago, France was home to around 300,000 cabins . Today, there are only 26 small sheds left scattered in isolated places, recalls Vincent: «Our fight is to try to reinstall them, with our own means, in a wild way or by trying to convince the municipal authorities» .
The collective has placed a second cabin in the capital of the Alps. Like the first, it is equipped with a mobile phone that operates using a battery and a SIM card: «We made a box that allows you to take the handset but not to leave with it. “ , Vincent told Geo magazine in early May.
The OIRCT aims to install 22 telephone booths in the Grenoble conurbation. And it would seem, this project is likely to spread to the rest of France.
“Following the media echo, several individuals and collectives have told us of their desire to do the same in various corners of France” .