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The U.K.'s phone regulator says it will keep thousands of the nation's famous red public phone kiosks in service, despite a sharp drop in calls from the boxes.

Communications regulator Ofcom says the payphones are still vital in case of emergencies, and in areas where cellphone users can't get a reliable signal.

Under the regulator's new criteria, a call box will need to be used at least 52 times over a 12-month period for it to stay in service. And if a kiosk is in an area identified as an accident or suicide hotspot, it can't be removed.

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Even if a red phone kiosk is slated for decommission, it can be adopted by its local community under a plan that lets governments or organizations buy the call box for just £1. According to Ofcom, "more than 6,000 kiosks have been converted to a range of different uses, such as community libraries, or to house life-saving public defibrillators."