Misplaced Pages

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94-657: The KX series of telephone boxes in the United Kingdom was introduced by BT (British Telecom) in 1985. Following the privatisation of BT in 1984, the company decided to create a newly designed and improved take on the British telephone box, which at this point consisted of only red telephone boxes which BT had recently acquired, the most common being the iconic K6 box. These red boxes were considered flawed in parts by BT for several reasons, including cost, lack of ventilation, accessibility and maintenance. BT announced

188-601: A cash machine on one side, some of them, introduced in 2005, taking the shape of the KX+. In 2005, BT announced they were scrapping plans to remove 200 telephone boxes in rural Yorkshire owing to their importance to the geographically isolated areas. BT also introduced a new type of phonecard telephone to be used in their phonecard-operated kiosks in 1996, the BT Payphone 2000, which was installed in high usage sites such as airports and railway stations . This payphone featured

282-652: A magnetic stripe are no longer sold but it is still possible to use prepaid telephone cards in BT phone boxes by manually keying in the card access number and PIN . Another development that became possible after the deregulation of the telephone industry of 1996 was that many companies followed in Mercury Communications' footsteps by erecting their own kiosks, including Spectrum Interactive and Cable & Wireless. Perhaps in another attempt to sustain public usage of payphones, several modern BT payphone kiosks have

376-583: A state . The term "post-office" has been in use since the 1650s, shortly after the legalisation of private mail services in England in 1635. In early modern England, post riders — mounted couriers —were placed, or "posted", every few hours along post roads at posting houses (also known as post houses) between major cities, or " post towns ". These stables or inns permitted important correspondence to travel without delay. In early America, post offices were also known as stations. This term, as well as

470-534: A cost-reduced model, known during its development as the K Excel but supplied as KX Minus. Both the KX+ and the KX Minus were designed by DCA and manufactured by GKN. Whilst the full 5,000 production of KX+ remain today, a successful scheme which took place around the same time as the introduction of the KX+ was to reinstall the iconic K6 design telephone boxes in places that have parted with them, with many places continuing to be reunited with K6s. BT phonecards with

564-535: A decreased demand for payphones, while the increasing use of laptops is leading to a new kind of service: in 2003, service provider Verizon announced that it would begin offering wireless computer connectivity in the vicinity of its phone booths in Manhattan. In 2006, the Verizon Wi-Fi telephone booth service was discontinued in favor of the more expensive Verizon Wireless' EVDO system. Wireless access

658-439: A door, depending on requirements, with the door version designed to be located on sites where complete weather and acoustic protection is needed. The overall unit was designed to be wide enough to allow wheelchair access. The open booth is designed for use on quieter sites yet still provides good weather protection and ease of access for the disabled. They can be used on single sites or suited back to back or side by side. The KX200

752-496: A flat roof. Aside from the back panel, which is formed of stainless steel panels, the three other sides of the box are made of glass, with two large window panels set above and beneath a slim, black plastic modesty panel, also with a black plastic trim around the windows. The same three sides of the booth stop short of the ground to provide ventilation, another improvement on the non-ventilated K6, and for litter accumulation. Initial deliveries had cylindrical legs, for leveling on site,

846-450: A flat-sheet roof with upturned edges and a multi-panel back. A slightly updated model known as the Mk2 soon followed, without the adjustable legs and with a single sheet back panel and the more familiar 'biscuit tin lid' roof. At launch, KX100s had smoked glass windows with lettering and logos printed on the inside face. To improve visibility of the kiosks - in particular during daylight hours -

940-522: A large LCD display with information to assist the user. The on-screen language could be also changed between English, Welsh, French, Italian and Spanish languages to help users whose first language is not English. They also launched a series of internet payphones called the Multi.phone, also known as the Multiphone, in 1999. The touch screen terminals display a range of "hot buttons relevant to the needs of

1034-713: A mobile phone. At their peak in the early 1990s, there were more than 80,000 public phone boxes across the country. By June 30, 2016, according to the Australian Communications & Media Authority there were about 24,000 payphones across Australia. On August 3, 2021, with 15,000 public phones remaining across Australia, Telstra announced that all calls to fixed line and mobile phones within Australia from public phones would become free of charge, and that it had no plans to further eliminate public phones. In Belgium, majority state-owned telco Belgacom took

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1128-579: A phone booth at Eaton Rapid 's city hall. In 2018, about a fifth of America's 100,000 remaining pay phones were in New York, according to the FCC . Only four phone booths remain in New York City, all on Manhattan's Upper West Side ; the rest have been converted into WiFi hotspots. Incoming calls are no longer available, and outgoing calls are now free. In February 2020, the city confirmed that despite

1222-418: A phone booth, among other devices, as a secure means of entering CONTROL headquarters. The 2002 film Phone Booth takes place almost entirely in a telephone booth; a 2023 retrospective article notes that "the obsolescence is to the film's advantage." The 1986 comedy film Clockwise features John Cleese 's character vandalising a phone in a booth in frustration after it malfunctions. The scene played on

1316-417: A pink moulded plastic panel and handle, where as before it was yellow. Variations of the new logo now featured on all booths in place of the 'T' logo. The variations were namely a coloured version, a grey version and a larger, grey piper on its own. The typeface used to identify the type of box atop the entrance (i.e. "Telephone" or "Phonecard") was changed, now featuring an italicized serif font, often beneath

1410-511: A plan to remove dozens of pay phones, the iconic booths would continue to be maintained. Many telephone boxes in the United Kingdom are now used for advertisements, bearing posters, with the development of "StreetTalk" by JCDecaux . This is in addition to the ST6 public telephone introduced in 2007 which is designed to feature a phone on one side and a JCDecaux-owned advertising space on

1504-559: A post office is called a postmaster . Before the advent of postal codes and the post office, postal systems would route items to a specific post office for receipt or delivery. During the 19th century in the United States , this often led to smaller communities being renamed after their post offices, particularly after the Post Office Department began to require that post office names not be duplicated within

1598-468: A red line. Certain boxes in mostly Welsh-speaking parts of Wales use "Teleffon" instead of "Telephone" on the box. The KX410 and 420 were not revamped, and remain today in their original 1985 guise. The logo on the KX520 features a full colour version of the BT logo. The revamp was followed by the installation of the BT's 100,000th telephone box, a KX100 at Dunsop Bridge , Lancashire , on 29 June 1992, after

1692-614: A scrolling advertising billboard on the reverse. The idea is that the advertising would pay for the running of the phone. The first ten ST6 kiosks were installed in Richmond and Ealing , London . BT announced in May 2012 that it was going to repair and restore 1,300 KX telephone boxes. The latest venture from BT, in 2017, combining advertising hoarding with public telephone service was the LinkUK kiosk - an electronic advertising hoarding with

1786-589: A small seat and a shelf for writing or placing property. They featured a lower handle on the door to help customers with disabilities and a new closing mechanism to make the door more robust. The original version featured red trim panels and a red-domed roof. This colour was chosen for its high visibility, and also to recall the red colour of the iconic Post Office kiosks. In late 2003, BT introduced internet connectivity to select kiosks. These booths feature distinctive blue colour to distinguish them from kiosks with standard telephone equipment (see photo), and also carry

1880-574: A tablet, two USB charging ports, and a phone providing free calling to UK numbers (plus free WiFi). Telephone booth In the United States and Canada, "telephone booth" (or "phone booth") is the commonly used term for the structure, while in the Commonwealth of Nations (particularly the United Kingdom and Australia), it is a "phone box". Such a booth usually has lighting, a door to provide privacy, and windows to let others know if

1974-514: A £160 million modernisation scheme for the public telephone network inherited from the General Post Office . Described as "a major improvement to the public telephone service", the "new designs that were to be the most perfect telephone kiosks you could imagine." They were both BT's first standardised telephone booths and their first altogether, having only been privatised less than half a year earlier. The new telephone boxes were named

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2068-489: Is a hooded unit provided as a single or double pedestal version. Designed to be suitable for location in most street sites but also to be positioned indoors where acoustic protection is needed. They were designed to be especially accessible for people using wheelchairs and, as with the KX100, they are sometimes positioned back to back. It consists of a back panel, a flat roof which also supports two glass panels which stretch down

2162-491: Is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels , providing post office boxes , and selling postage stamps , packaging, and stationery . Post offices may offer additional services, which vary by country. These include providing and accepting government forms (such as passport applications), and processing government services and fees (such as road tax , postal savings , or bank fees). The chief administrator of

2256-399: Is an extending tab which features the BT logo. Red Phone Box, a website dedicated to the history of British telephone boxes, said that "nobody could deny the functionality of the designs as their main objectives were to be easy for disabled people to use and very easy to maintain, but everybody could deny the attractiveness of the designs." BT later said that although the public liked parts of

2350-402: Is identified by its PIN. Post offices coming under Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication, Government of India have a history of one hundred fifty years. Private courier and delivery services often have offices as well, although these are usually not called "post offices", except in the case of Germany , which has fully privatised its national postal system . As abbreviation PO

2444-464: Is instead known as a sorting office or delivery office, which may have a large central area known as a sorting or postal hall. Integrated facilities combining mail processing with railway stations or airports are known as mail exchanges. In India , post offices are found in almost every village having panchayat (a "village council"), towns, cities, and throughout the geographical area of India. India's postal system changed its name to India Post after

2538-514: Is motivating telephone companies to place wireless stations at locations that have traditionally hosted telephone booths, but stations are also appearing in new kinds of locations such as libraries, cafés, and trains. Phone booths have been slowly disappearing with the growth in use of mobile phones. A rise in vandalism has prompted several companies to manufacture simpler booths with extremely durable pay phones. Pay phones may still be used by mobile/cellular phone users if their phone become unusable,

2632-477: Is no space for directories or customer instructions, with the booth structures being made of aluminium alone, with the BT logo being on both the left and right of the structures, whilst hooded is a simple telephone. They were also considerably shorter than the other designs. The KX410, unlike the K420, was suitable for surface mounting. These were not BT's first attempt at a post-situated telephone booth, as they follow

2726-627: Is really no-one to push it." In 1996, BT, having acknowledged the negative reaction to the original KX models, made an attempt to win the public over and revisited the KX100 and built upon its design to improve its appeal and add some character. The new updated version was named the KX+, also known as the KXplus, the KXPlus, the KX100 Plus or the KX100+. It is essentially an updated and taller version of

2820-496: Is required to comply with Ofcom rules in consultation with the local authority. Some decommissioned red telephone boxes have been converted for other uses with the permission of BT Group, such as housing small community libraries or automated external defibrillators . Beginning in the 1990s, many large cities began instituting restrictions on where pay phones could be placed, under the belief that they facilitated crime . In 1999, there were approximately 2 million phone booths in

2914-596: Is stolen, or for other emergency uses. These uses may make the complete disappearance of pay phones in the near future less likely. Under the Universal Service Obligation, the Government of Australia legally requires Telstra to ensure standard phone services and payphones are "reasonably accessible to all people in Australia". Some communities, particularly in remote regional areas, rely on payphones, as well as people who do not have access to

KX telephone boxes - Misplaced Pages Continue

3008-433: Is used, together with GPO for General Post Office and LPO for Licensed Post Office. There is evidence of corps of royal couriers disseminating the decrees of Egyptian pharaohs as early as 2400   BCE, and it is possible that the service greatly precedes that date. Similarly, there may be ancient organised systems of post houses providing mounted courier service, although sources vary as to precisely who initiated

3102-498: The BT Openzone logo. These kiosks have been described as perhaps "the last throw of the dice to save the telephone box", with Red Phone Box noting "the idea is good but the practicality isn't, you are unable to print out your internet findings in these boxes as a printer and paper would create mess." The payphone within the KX+ inside takes cash, phonecards, credit cards and chargecards, with these payment options clearly written on

3196-552: The Holy Roman Empire . The British Postal Museum claims that the oldest functioning post office in the world is on High Street in Sanquhar , Scotland . The post office has functioned continuously since 1712, during which horses and stagecoaches were used to carry mail. Rural parts of Canada in the 19th century utilised the way office system. Villagers could leave their letters at the way office which were then taken to

3290-651: The House of Lords , the Earl of Gowrie , the Minister of State for Employment, called on BT "to abandon this ridiculous scheme". In the House of Commons , Mark Lennox-Boyd MP asked the then Prime Minister , Margaret Thatcher , if she would treat the decision "with the greatest possible dismay". Thatcher, who herself was responsible for the privatisation, would only say that she could "see my honourable Friend's point". Campaigning worked and BT shortly announced that only 90 of

3384-871: The Twentieth Century Society applied to preserve three KX100 boxes as listed monuments : the 100,000th to be installed, at Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire, in England; a box which has retained the original BT livery, near Maaruig on the Isle of Harris in Scotland; and an experimental solar- and wind-powered telephone box at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth in Wales. Whilst BT

3478-528: The United States in 1889, and George A. Long was its developer. In the UK, the creation of a national network of telephone boxes commenced in 1920, beginning with the K1 model which was made of concrete; however, the city of Kingston upon Hull is noted for having its individual phone service, Kingston Communications, with cream coloured phone boxes, as opposed to classic royal red in the rest of Britain. The Post Office

3572-456: The phonecard -operated KX kiosks were the first to be introduced with them, although a minority of phonecard-operated KX kiosks did not feature the bin. BT further tightened a number of these bins in late 1992 to take extra care that people can not steal disposed cards from them. The first and most common KX, designed to be the direct successor to the K6, the KX100 is a four-sided rectangular box with

3666-477: The 2000 A.D., post offices would collect fees for radio licenses, recruitment for government jobs, and the operation of public call telephone (PCO) booths. Postmen would deliver letters, money orders, and parcels to places that are within the assigned area of a particular post office. Each Indian post office is assigned a unique six-digit code called the Postal Index Number , or PIN. Each post office

3760-568: The 77,000 remaining traditional boxes had been painted different colours, that it was "as an experiment" and that no final decision had been reached. Nonetheless, whilst they had sympathized with what the public saw as a cultural icon, BT quickly turned their attention to what they saw as flaws in all of Britain's telephone boxes. They considered them outdated and no longer of need to the public, finding that few people like using them, and noted their expensive cost, difficult maintenance and noted how they could not be used by handicapped people. Furthermore,

3854-458: The Booth 7A (or "Oakham" booths as they became known) which was a yellow booth used in areas of extreme vandalism introduced some years earlier. For use indoors, such as in shopping centres , another design, the KX520, was introduced. This is essentially a telephone mounted to a post with two small windows joined at the top of the booth to the left and right whilst topped by a hood, underneath which

KX telephone boxes - Misplaced Pages Continue

3948-629: The KX series. Whilst it is unknown what the initials stand for, it is believed the "K" stands for kiosk, following the Post Office telephone box naming system. The introduction of the new kiosks was also to see the eventual replacement of all existing prior telephone boxes. In January 1985, Nick Kane, the Director of Marketing for BT Local Communications Services, announced the replacement plan and stated they were being replaced because they "no longer meet

4042-454: The KX100 as "utterly bland" and noting that since its introduction, BT "has done its utmost to turn the phone box from one of the most famous and elegant pieces of street furniture into the most boringly ugly. It might be more vandal proof, more accessible and more modern (in the worst sense of the word) but the KX100, even when feebly capped in a fake Gilbert Scott-style crown, looks plain nasty." Alan Powers , an architectural historian who led

4136-461: The KX100. It differs from the KX100 in that the 'waistband' in its door and sides is lower, and the colour used in the midsection trim panel and remodelled door handle also now matches the newly introduced trim panel at the top. In a nod to earlier Post Office kiosks and following the negative feedback on the KX100's design, it features a domed, plastic roof (modelled on those of the K2 and K6 ). This said,

4230-696: The Thirties Society against BT newcomers in the mid-1980s, said "the clutter is appalling" and "nobody has made a worthy successor to Scott's [red telephone box]. They're all utterly banal. Though I have recently seen a new phone in Bloomsbury [London] that is very, very elegant. Maybe BT has finally got it right." It was reported in 2008 that a local from Ffair Rhos , Cadwgan , uses a KX100 yards from his house to contact friends and run his business, as well as cleaning it and opening his window to hear it call, noting he does this so that BT will not remove

4324-572: The United Kingdom's telephone boxes , except those in Hull, was renamed British Telecom , later to become simply BT. The most common telephone box in the United Kingdom was the K6 red telephone box , introduced in 1935. The newly formed BT underwent two telephone box projects in 1981. The most successful of the two was the introduction of phonecard -operated telephone kiosks in July after a successful trial, with

4418-496: The United States, this replacement was caused, at least in part, by an attempt to make the pay telephones more accessible to disabled people. However, in the United Kingdom, telephones remained in booths more often than the non-enclosed setup. Although still fairly common, the number of phone boxes has declined sharply in Britain since the late 1990s due to the rise in use of mobile phones. Many locations that provide pay-phones mount

4512-537: The United States. Only five percent of those remained in service by 2018. In 2008, AT&T began withdrawing pay phone support citing profitability, and a few years later Verizon also left the pay phone market. In 2015, a phone booth in Prairie Grove, Arkansas was placed on the National Register of Historic Places . New phone booth installations do sometimes occur, including the installation of

4606-580: The advent of private courier companies in the 1990s. It is run by the Indian government's Department of Posts. India Post accepts and delivers inland letters, postcards, parcels, postal stamps, and money orders (money transfers). Few post offices in India offer speed post (fast delivery) and payments or bank savings services. It is also uncommon for Indian post offices to sell insurance policies or accept payment for electricity, landline telephone, or gas bills. Until

4700-419: The area is properly covered by at least one mobile phone operator . Eir , the Universal Service Obligation carrier with regard to payphones, has been systematically removing payphones which fall under the minimum requirement for retention, of a rolling average of one minute of usage a day over six months. As of June 2019, 456 locations retained payphones (with none in the entirety of County Leitrim ); this

4794-538: The booth but stop far short of the ground. These panels sport the BT logo. The KX300 is a triangular unit designed so it could be used in groups, although many were erected alone. The triangular design of the KX300 ensures acoustic and weather protection. It was also designed to enable full use of available floor space and to provide better siting flexibility. As with the KX100, it has raised sides to prevent litter accumulation. There are two versions, one with two glass sides,

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4888-414: The booth is in use. The booth may be furnished with a printed directory of local telephone numbers, and in a formal setting, such as a hotel, may be furnished with paper and pen and even a seat. An outdoor booth may be made of metal and plastic to withstand the elements and heavy use, while an indoor booth (known as a silence cabinet) may have more elaborate design and furnishings. Most outdoor booths feature

4982-677: The box, and that he will not have a home phone installed to help this. BT's telephone boxes in the UK soon saw a rival with the introduction of Mercury Communications own set of telephone booths, which were launched on 27 July 1988 with 26 booths at Waterloo station , London . The Machin-designed Mercury booth was at best accepted by the public and, at worst, positively hated. Examples of the response included "something from outer space", "pieces of fairground machinery" and "demented bird tables - complete with perches." but, and much more importantly to Mercury, they turned out to be non-profitable. The Mercury payphone sites closed down in 1995, with many of

5076-423: The boxes providing access to music was seen as an opportunity to attract mobile phone users, who long ago deserted phone boxes into BT facilities, Regardless, the plans were abandoned. By 2017, the total number of BT-owned telephone boxes had fallen to 40,000 with half of these under threat of scrapping over the following five years. As of 2024, there are fewer than 20,000 public telephone boxes nationwide. That year

5170-451: The boxes were noted for a lack of ventilation and little space. Although British Telecom had already introduced the yellow Booth 7A ("Oakham") kiosks in 1980 to several locations with limited floor space or extreme vandalism, it was with their privatisation in late 1984, that BT began planning for a scheme of new telephone boxes which improved on the previous telephone boxes and addressed their concerns. In early 1985, British Telecom announced

5264-458: The code for Dunsop Bridge is DSB. Whilst the BBC noted in 2002 that the box is the village's "monument", local postmaster and shop owner Phil Woodhead said the town did not capitalise on its status, saying "there is only that payphone really... we haven't put up big signs or anything like that. If this was a bigger town with more shops, then maybe we would do something, but because we are so small, there

5358-411: The coin-operated KX telephone boxes used the BT Payphone 600. Kiosks of the KX series were introduced at a rate of 5,000 a year, and by 1999, the combined total of the KX series and acquired Post Office telephone boxes had reached 137,000. There were 100,000 KX100s introduced alone, although only 40,500 remain. Although green bins to dispose of used BT phonecards had been added to already existing kiosks,

5452-415: The coin-operated version was originally yellow with a blue phone, but this was later phased out. The upper glass window panels carried the company logo, which upon launch, was the yellow dotted British Telecom 'T' logo. Changes to the panel and handle colour and BT logo were made in 1991 (see 1991 revamp ), changes which adorn almost all remaining KX100s. The KX100 was designed to be supplied with or without

5546-433: The designs, such as "the fact that they were lighter, more airy and more accessible for people with disabilities than the traditional style, customers felt that there was still room for improvement. Popular opinion was that the square shape seemed clinical and that something softer and more rounded would be preferable." The scheme to replace the already existing red telephone boxes provoked a strong reaction from many members of

5640-423: The dome also brought other benefits to BT. The enhanced model was now taller and more visible than the boxes of BT's competitors, and it also offered valuable extra space for future developments, such as public wi-fi hotspot equipment. The earliest KX+ kiosks carried signage on the door and side lintels and the domed roof. The interior of the booths are fitted with a large illuminated display panel. They also contained

5734-436: The general public, with many disapproving of the removal of the red kiosks. Despite public campaigning to revert the plan to remove the red boxes, and unlike with the campaign protesting against the yellow telephone boxes several years earlier, BT did not respond, and whilst some red telephone boxes remained, the KX project was completed in 1988. The KX's reputation has not improved with age. In 2001, The Guardian referred to

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5828-595: The last remaining phone booths out of service in June 2015. In June 2021 the last phone booth in Czechia was closed and dismantled. In December 2017 the last three public telephone booths in Denmark had their telephones removed. They were situated in the town of Aarhus . By 2007, Finnet companies and TeliaSonera Finland had discontinued their public telephones, and the last remaining operator Elisa Oyj did so early

5922-682: The mobile telephone network. AGCOM declared that 99.2% of public telephones are already covered by a mobile network with at least 2G technology (May 2023). In September 2023 over 90,000 booths which do not fall into the above-mentioned exceptions began being removed. In 2004, Jordan became the first country in the world not to have telephone booths generally available. The mobile/ cellular phone penetration in that country has become so high that telephone booths had been rarely used for years. The two private payphone service companies, namely ALO and JPP, closed down. The last functioning phone box in Norway

6016-403: The modern traveller and consumer", with one of the buttons leading to BBC News Online . By January 2001, 600 Multi.phones were installed, but to revive the fortunes of their extensive network after usage fell 37% in two years, BT announced a six-month promotion during which the phones would be totally free for internet use. A BBC critic reviewed the Multi.phone in a negative light, saying it made

6110-404: The name and logo of the telephone service provider. The world's first telephone box called "Fernsprechkiosk", was opened on 12 January 1881 at Potsdamer Platz , Berlin. To use it, one had to buy paper tickets called Telefonbillet which allowed for a few minutes of talking time. In 1899, it was replaced by a coin-operated telephone. William Gray is credited with inventing the coin payphone in

6204-499: The nearest post office, as well as pick up their mail from the way office. In parts of Europe, special postal censorship offices existed to intercept and censor mail. In France, such offices were known as cabinets noirs . In many jurisdictions, mailboxes and post office boxes have long been in widespread use for drop-off and pickup (respectively) of mail and small packages outside post offices or when offices are closed. Germany's national postage system Deutsche Post introduced

6298-593: The needs of our customers. Few people like to use them. They are expensive and difficult to clean and maintain and cannot be used by handicapped people". The first KX to be installed, a KX100, was unveiled in Leicester Square , London . BT later stated the KX models "were cheaper to maintain, more resistant to vandalism and were designed to blend in with any surroundings. Special attention was paid to environmental considerations, acoustics, weather protection, lighting and ventilation after intensive market research

6392-468: The original red telephone boxes . In 2001, BBC reported that the transition from the classic red telephone boxes to the KX telephone boxes was successful in reducing vandalism. BT changed their logo in 1991, now featuring a new typeface for the newly shortened name "BT" (prior to this they used their full name British Telecom), and an unpopular stylized figure of a piper. The KX100, 200 and 300 were updated accordingly. The coin-operated KX100 now featured

6486-487: The original KX100 had received by revising its design to incorporate elements of older red telephone boxes. Later versions of the KX+ incorporated broadband connection. BT was reported to have stopped making telephone boxes altogether in 2001, although this was later denied with the introduction of the ST6 in 2007, which saw the end of the KX series. In 1980, preparing for privatisation , Post Office Telephones, who owned all of

6580-602: The other providing sturdy oxen for bulk shipments. The Byzantine historian Procopius , though not unbiased, records the Cursus Publicus system remained largely intact until it was dismantled in the Byzantine empire by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century. The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis family initiated regular mail service from Brussels in the 16th century , directing the Imperial Post of

6674-442: The other with one glass side and one fabricated side with acoustic panels and fittings for directory holders. It was essentially a triangular-based variant of the KX100. Several KX300s were fitted with doors that resemble the KX100 doors, although many were not. The KX410 and KX420 are two hooded phone booths on posts created specifically for sites with little available ground space or sites which are prone to vandalism. As such, there

6768-534: The otherside. The advertising pays for the cost of maintaining the phone. In 2018, the UK Local Government Association drew attention to "Trojan" telephone boxes. These are telephone boxes whose main purpose is advertising. A loophole in planning law allows these to be erected without planning permission and the LGA is seeking to close this loophole. Post Office A post office

6862-570: The outside of the box rather than using red or green colour coding which was the practice of the KX series as well as elder red telephone boxes that had been updated accordingly. The first KX+ kiosks appeared in Autumn 1996, with the first being placed in London , and within its first year, over 5,000 KX+ kiosks had been installed. Its launch also saw the end of production for the KX100. Some KX100s went on to be retrofitted with KX+ style domes - in effect

6956-610: The phones in the kiosks being named Cardphones. The other project was painting several of the remaining red telephone boxes in yellow, BT's new corporate colour, although upon the announcement in February 1981, it was stated that all of the red telephone boxes would be converted. This was harshly received by the public, with the Daily Mail launching a campaign "against the yellow peril" and questions were asked in Parliament . In

7050-406: The phones on kiosks rather than in booths—this relative lack of privacy and comfort discourages lengthy calls in high-demand areas such as airports. Special equipment installed in some telephone booths allows a caller to use a computer, a portable fax machine, or a telecommunications device for the deaf. The Jabbrrbox, an enclosed structure for installation in open plan offices, was inspired by

7144-1136: The practice. In the Persian Empire , a Chapar Khaneh system existed along the Royal Road . Similar postage systems were established in India and China by the Mauryan and Han dynasties in the 2nd century BCE. The Roman historian Suetonius credited Augustus with regularising the Roman transportation and courier network, the Cursus Publicus . Local officials were obliged to provide couriers who would be responsible for their message's entire course. Locally maintained post houses ( Latin : stationes ) privately owned rest houses ( Latin : mansiones ) and were obliged or honored to care for couriers along their way. The Roman emperor Diocletian later established two parallel systems: one providing fresh horses or mules for urgent correspondence and

7238-518: The previous year. The red telephone kiosk is recognised as a British icon and the BT Group still hold intellectual property rights in the designs of many of the telephone boxes, including registered trademark rights. BT is steadily removing public telephone kiosks from the streets of the UK. It is permitted to remove a kiosk without consultation provided that there is another kiosk within 400 m (1,300 ft) walking distance. In other cases, it

7332-489: The printing was first moved onto the outside surface of the glass and then the smoked glass was dropped altogether. Later kiosks were all fitted with clear glass. The door of the kiosk has a light action and features a bright-coloured moulded plastic panel and handle for easier opening than previous boxes. For the first KX100s, this part was bright yellow, whilst the Phonecard variants used a bright green. The payphone inside

7426-580: The public perception in Britain at the time that telephone booths were frequently out of order. Phone booths have been subject to wireless surveillance by law enforcement. For example, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of Katz v. United States involved the Constitutional question of whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) could install a listening device outside of the booth. The increasing use of mobile phones has led to

7520-914: The red telephone boxes. However, whilst the trials were successful, the quality of the materials and design made it too expensive for the Post Office to mass-produce and the design was not adopted. Regardless, the design of the Croydon boxes proved an important influence on the KX100. It was also described as looking "quite stunning" and as influencing the Australian Telstra telephone boxes. The original KX telephone booths were designed by GKN and DCA (David Carter Associates) and are of light-weight construction and use an aluminum frame clad in stainless steel panels with anodised aluminium edging. They were also fitted with sound proofing, vandal-resistant panelling and "better lighting." As had recently been retrofitted to several existing red telephone boxes, many of

7614-437: The reviewer "nostalgic for the old callbox pips. Sometimes, as BT once put it so perfectly, "it's good to TALK"." After the six month free trial was over, keyboards were added to the Multi.phones. Around the same time, they also introduced Britain's first credit card -operated public payphone, Creditcall, which like the Phonecard, was another cashless payphone service, enabling customers to make calls using major credit cards. It

7708-467: The same year. According to Orange CEO, Stéphane Richard , there were only 26 public phone booths still operating in France as of 2021. The " Macron law" of 2015 ended Orange mandatory maintenance of a public phone booth network, its decline in use being caused by the cell phones era. These are, by law, maintained in rural area where there is no cell phone service. Consequently, they are removed once

7802-464: The sites taken over by Interphone, who went on to replace the Machin booths with their own housings. In the 1988 Quality of Service report, the UK's public payphone system was listed as having a 96% reliability, compared to only 72% in 1987. As a result of the programme, there were 80,000 of the stainless steel design kiosks in service by 1996, in addition to 30,000 hooded or canopied phones and 15,000 of

7896-414: The telephone booth. The ubiquity of the phone booth led to its depiction in fiction. In comic books published by DC Comics , the telephone booth is occasionally the place where reporter Clark Kent discards his street clothing and transforms into the costumed superhero Superman . Some films and television series have reused or parodied this plot device. The 1965–1970 television series Get Smart used

7990-438: The term "post house", fell from use as horse and coach services were replaced by railways , aircraft , and automobiles . The term "post office" usually refers to government postal facilities providing customer service. " General Post Office " is sometimes used for the national headquarters of a postal service, even if the building does not provide customer service. A postal facility that is used exclusively for processing mail

8084-412: The updated functions of the KX series were praised, the designs were widely criticised and were seen as inferior to the red telephone boxes. The plan to replace the red boxes was also criticised. Many of the models in the KX series were revamped graphically after BT changed their logo in 1991, and production of the KX100 stopped in 1996 with its replacement, the KX+, attempting to address the criticisms that

8178-514: The village was recently named the closest to the centre of the British Isles. Upon installation, BT also included a commemorative plaque to explain its significance reading "You are calling from the BT payphone that marks the centre of Great Britain." In fact, the phone is 4.2 miles (6.8 km) from the true centre. The telephone box was unveiled by Sir Ranulph Fiennes , and in BT's A1141 list of unique alphabetical Telephone Exchange codes,

8272-445: The £160 million series of new boxes, the KX series designed by GKN , as well as announcing the eventual replacement of all existing telephone boxes. The main telephone box in the KX range is the KX100. Upon launch, there were five models in total. The boxes were produced at a rate of 5,000 a year, with the total count of all BT-owned kiosks reaching 137,000 by 1999, a number which has since decreased by more than seventy per cent. Whilst

8366-571: Was conducted into customers' needs. The designs assisted customers with disabilities and allowed access to wheelchair users." The KX series was not the first attempt to replace the red telephone box with regards to easier access, lower maintenance and brighter lighting, as they follow Post Office Telephone's "Croydon" telephone boxes from 1972. The Croydon boxes, which featured a black handset silhouette with bright yellow paintwork, were erected in Croydon , Surrey , as an experimental prototype to replace

8460-453: Was down from 1,320 in March 2014. In May 2023 AGCOM established that TIM no longer has the obligation to guarantee the availability of telephone booths, with the exception of "places of social importance", such as hospitals (with at least ten beds), prisons, and barracks with at least fifty occupants. TIM will also be able to decommission booths in mountain refuges, while ensuring access to

8554-454: Was forced into allowing a less strident grey with red glazing bars scheme for areas of natural and architectural beauty. Ironically, some of these areas that have preserved their telephone boxes have now painted them red. Starting in the 1970s, pay telephones were less commonly placed in booths in the United States. In many cities where they were once common, telephone booths have now been almost completely replaced by non-enclosed pay phones. In

8648-408: Was installed on a trial basis in at Heathrow Airport and Waterloo station in London . In 2004, BT considered plans where their telephone boxes could be used to download music, turning them into "virtual jukeboxes", where anyone owning an iPod or portable music player would be able to go into a phonebox and download a song, being able to pay using a credit card or a BT charge card. The concept behind

8742-476: Was reported to have stopped making telephone boxes in January 2001, citing loss of profits due to the increasing popularity in mobile phones , production had resumed by the time of the introduction of the ST6 (Street Talk 6) in June 2007, which seemingly saw the end of the KX series. The ST6, a collaboration between BT and public advertising company JCDecaux , is a unit that incorporates a telephone on one side and

8836-454: Was taken out of service in June 2016. However, 100 phone boxes have been preserved around the country and are protected under cultural heritage laws. The first telephone booth in Sweden was erected in 1890. In 1981 there were 44,000, but by 2013, only 1,200 remained, with the removal of the last one in 2015. A survey showed that in 2013, only 1% of the population in Sweden had used one during

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