Telstra is paid about $270 million a year to ensure all Australians have access to voice calls via "standard telephone services (landlines) and payphones", regardless of where they live and work, under a legislated Universal Service Obligation (USO).
How the almighty fuck does that work when the copper is decommissioned and everything forced over to nbn?
Even if the copper is still extant, hooking an ancient handset up to it won't work for telephony reasons, phone booths are being transformed to wifi booths so what exactly is this USO covering?