Cultural icon gets 21st century make-over
A strong icon of British cultural identity, the phone box, is celebrating its 90th anniversary, and with that in mind it has been revealed that it will be getting a 21st century update from Lord Alan Sugar’s company Amscreen in partnership with New World Payphones and Virgin Media.
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017 12:15 GMT
Modern classic: A partnership headed by Amscreen and including New World Pay Phones and Virgin Media will see a new generation of phone boxes pop up across UK cities
“Along with the likes of red buses, Piccadilly Circus and Big Ben, the inner-city phone box has been synonymous with Britain's cultural heritage since their introduction nearly one hundred years ago. It is therefore fitting that Amscreen, a British company, have been charged with manufacturing the remodelling of this classic design icon,” says Lord Sugar, chairman of Amscreen.
He continues: "I view the UK manufacturing industry in the highest regard. It has always been the global standard bearer for quality and I'm proud to see Amscreen continue this tradition with a project of this scale. I am confident that our digital signage expertise, combined with the vision of Clear Channel, New World Payphones, and the high-grade technology provided by Virgin, has helped create a new entry into our national phone box collection and one that could become as iconic as the famous K2 design."
I view the UK manufacturing industry in the highest regard”
The K2 phone box was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s first vision for a phone box and arrived on London's streets in 1926.
While the traditional red phone boxes have always retained a degree of charm, more modern models—via ageing as well as vandalism—have become something of an eyesore on Britain's high streets. Amscreen claims states the revenue generated from the New World Payphones digital phone box will be used to carry out weekly maintenance—more than four times as frequently as existing phone boxes—thus countering the potential for decay.
The new design reportedly has everything you would expect from a traditional phone box, plus a number of adaptions for 21st century use. This includes high-speed Wi-Fi connection provided by Virgin Media, touchscreen functions for local services and digital advertising screens. That said, fans of the K2 may be saddened it is now open sided and black instead of maintaining its classical royal red paint job.
Beyond its practical usage, the phone boxes will also form the basis of a renovation in public infrastructure. For every new phone box built, New World Payphones says it will declutter the streets by removing older phone box models that have fallen into disrepair and plant a tree via a partnership with Trees for Cities.
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