BT shrinks phone book to fit in letter boxes

BT is reducing the page size of its phone books to make them fit in letter boxes. We guess this will reduce delivery charges, but it will certainly save paper - about 2,000 tonnes a year.

The Phone book is the same height, but the width is trimmed by 31mm to 172mm. And the new edition has a coupon section, to promote discount business to advertisers.

And we thought everyone used Google or 192.com to find phone numbers these days, but no, the phone directory remains a cash cow for BT.

David Benjamin, CEO, BT Directories, said: “If you listened to some people, you’d think that nobody wanted phone books, when in fact the opposite is true."

Some eighty per cent of BT customers have an up-to-date copy of the phone book at home and what's more, they use it, especially to look up local businesses.

Twelve million people in the UK, mostly older people, have no access to the internet, according to the Government and rely on phone books to find numbers.