150 years since the first phone call: The decline of landlines in New Zealand and beyond
If you were born before the year 2000, you'll likely remember the distinctive sound of a rotary dial, the tangled handset cord, and that classic threat: "I'm going to hang up on you!" Well, 10 March isn't just any ordinary day. It's exactly 150 years since Alexander Graham Bell made the first-ever phone call, summoning his assistant with the famous words: "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you." What many don't realise is that the very device which revolutionised the world is slowly becoming a museum piece.
Here in New Zealand, the decline of the landline is just as striking. Since 2010, the number of active home phone lines has more than halved. If you're over 40, you'll remember a time when having a home phone was a sign of progress – while today, kids look puzzled if they spot a phone box on the street. Technology has moved on, and so have our habits. But have we lost something along the way?
The collector keeping history alive
It's this sense of nostalgia that inspired YouTuber João Víctor de Melo, from Belo Horizonte, to start collecting telephone memorabilia. On his channel, he showcases everything from vintage Telecom models to rare industrial finds like the Aqua-air Aqpm-10 De Março Ac-5c-md 115V March, a piece of 1980s equipment that most people have long forgotten. "It's my way of keeping the memory of how we used to communicate alive," João explains in one of his recent videos. His YouTube channel has gained a following precisely by bringing these generation-defining objects back into the spotlight.
The last gasp of the landline
A symbolic moment in this slow farewell happened on 10 March 2019, when the last public payphone was removed from Auckland's Queen Street. The event went largely unnoticed at the time, but for those in the know, it marked the end of an era. The glass booths, once bustling with people queuing to use phone cards, have been replaced by Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile charging stations. The way we communicate has changed its clothes, but the core remains the same: our human need to connect.
From Graham Bell to WhatsApp: A timeline of connection
To really grasp the scale of this shift, let's look at some key milestones from the past 150 years:
- 1876: Graham Bell makes the first telephone call in Boston.
- 1881: The first telephone is installed in New Zealand, connecting a Christchurch firm to its city office.
- 1990: Mobile phones hit the Kiwi market – they were real bricks, weighing over a kilo.
- 2010: Smartphones become mainstream, and landline numbers start their steep decline.
- 2026: We mark 150 years since that first call, and finding a home with a working landline is increasingly rare.
For all the technology we have today – Zoom, WhatsApp, satellite calls – there's still something special about actually ringing someone up. Maybe that's why people still search YouTube for old Telecom ads or the nostalgic sound of a dial tone. 10 March is a reminder that while the tools may change, the simple act of saying "hello" is timeless.