Regards from Telenor, the Norwegian Phone Company

Two friends of Hugo Massa who prefer to be identified by the collective handle of Agomath recently visited Norway’s Lofoten Islands, near Sørvågen. There they found, among other of this world’s wonders, a classic red Norwegian “TELEFON” booth, accompanied by an interesting note from Telenor, the largest telephone company in Norway.

The accompanying sign, which is transcribed here, explains that in 2007 the country of Norway preserved 100 of its telephone boxes for their “cultural importance”:

Small Rooms for Great Occasions

100 telephone boxes remain in Norway – and this is one of them! They were protected for their cultural importance in 2007.
At most, there were over 6000 such telephone boxes in use all over the country, but the arrival of new technology and communicational possibilities reduced the demand for the little red houses.
Even if the ring tone is gone, our telephone boxes have important stories to tell. Stories of a time when you couldn’t carry your phone around in your pocket. Stories about us.

With regards
Telenor

As the note from Telenor implies this phone booth houses a non-working payphone, and appears to be left in place simply for display purposes. One would think the value of going to the trouble of retaining an old phone box would be supplemented by finding some efficient means to make the  phone actually useful should a wayward traveler need to make contact with the outside world. Alas, Telenor appears to have entered into the business of museum curator!