Payphones will soon be a thing of the past and in their place Telstra will be releasing public internet kiosks. Dubbed the "21st century upgrade for the payphone" these kiosks will allow customers to surf the net, pay bills online and even make phone calls.

The number of payphones has dropped from 31,000 to 18,000 since 2006, according to a report from the "Herald Sun". Telstra's plan to replace them with the new hi-tech payphones comes after a successful trial run of the internet kiosks in Australian airports. Fifty touchscreen kiosks were made available for consumers and after the four month trial were deemed a success with users.

"After analysing the information gathered from the market assessment, Telstra has advised pieNETWORKS that they deem the assessment a success, providing confirmation of the business case to consider expanding the network of terminals," a PIEnetworks spokesperson said.

Telstra spokeswoman Karina Keisler said payphones have declined in use since the advent in mobile phones.

"So Telstra is looking for ways to incorporate new technology in place of payphones at selected internal sites and to bring new content and services via webphones to people who are out and about," she said.

The webphones will be equipped with touchscreen and keyboard and will offer access to the Internet, WiFi and direct access to Telstra services.

Telstra hasn't released any information on how many internet kiosks will be available or where they will be placed.