BT is axing one its staple services after more than 140 years following dwindling user numbers.
The broadband and telephone provider will no longer distribute free copies of its iconic phone book from April.
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The directory, which was first shared with households in 1880, is a familiar sight on doorsteps and a one-stop to find contact information about a person or business.
But its last print run will be held next month, as BT sets its sights on operating at net zero by 2030 and as households increasingly turn online to find the same information.
Still, the latest news might be a blow for older or more vulnerable households without access to the internet.
It comes after BT pulled the plug o traditional home phones for millions of customers last November.
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A spokesperson said it printed 18million copies of the phone book every year.
But a drop in paper-based advertising and the number of households using the directory had led to the decision to ditch it.
They added: “For those who still need a printed phone book, this will be available on demand and for a subsidised cost for the first year.
“We will also host a PDF version available for download.”
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We have asked BT how much the subsidised copy will cost and where customers can find it and will update this story when we have heard back.
We have also asked if any version of the phone will be available from April 2025 and how customers can find the online PDF version.
Households have shared their devastation after discovering the staple will be axed for good after more than a century.
One, sharing a picture of their most recent copy on Facebook, said: “Came in the post today.
“Funny to think it’s the last one ever, to those younger it’s rather like Google closing down.
“Sad to think we will no longer experience that frisson of excitement as the new phone book drops through the letter box.”
A second said: “Anyone get their last ever phone book from BT? End of an era.”
A third commented: “We received our last phone book this week. What’s everyone’s thoughts on this? A sign of the times I suppose.”
A fourth added: “End of an era, remember how big they were once upon a time!”
And even Anthony Brown, MP for South Cambridgeshire, has weighed in, recently posting on his Facebook page: “A changing of the guard from an institution that began in 1880, with just 248 entries (and, strangely, no phone numbers!) and has bowed to the joint pressures of the internet age and the mobile phone, amongst others.
“Will anyone miss the phone book?”
BT first launched its paper phone book in 1880, and has printed it almost continuously since then, apart from a seven year gap between 1913 and 1920.
The first national phone book was printed in 1896, containing 1,350 pages and 81,000 entries.
By 1900, the directory had started featuring double columns due to the sheer number of entries inside.
But the company said last May the higher environmental impact of printing and distributing was one of the reasons it would cull the paper version.
It added the move will save around 6,000 tonnes of paper each year – equivalent to 72,000 trees.
It comes after fellow directory titan Yellow Pages delivered its final paper edition in early 2019 after launching 51 years before.
The first edition of the household staple was published in Brighton in 1966, the same town it was last delivered to doorsteps.
In 2020, Argos announced it would stop printing its famous catalogue after almost five decades.
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In other news, we reveal the exact dates 11 major mobile and broadband firms will hike bills by up to £50 for millions.
Plus, millions of BT customers could get up to £500 in compensation thanks to a major class action lawsuit which launched last month.
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