BT urges the community to develop a program that will allow the use of an iconic but redundant red phone booth in the heart of Northampton.
The phone booth on Wood Hill is available for £ 1 to go from a place holding a defibrillator to a book swap or a mini history museum.
13 in South Northamptonshire and 19 in Daventry are also available through the Adopt a Kiosk project, which has involved 784 parishes in the East Midlands since 2008.
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A book swap is a popular reuse for old phone booths. Photo: BT
Sarah Walker, director of BT Enterprise for the Midlands, said, “With most people now using cell phones, it has resulted in a huge drop in the number of calls made on payphones.
“At the same time, cellular coverage has improved significantly in recent years due to investments in masts, especially in rural areas.
“We are currently streamlining our payphone property to make it fit for the future, and the Adopt a Kiosk program is allowing local communities in the East Midlands to keep their local phone booth with an updated purpose for the community.
“Thousands of communities have already come up with an amazing array of ideas for reusing their beloved local phone booth.
“The application is quick and easy and we are always happy to speak to the communities about the introduction of our telephone booths.”
As part of the payphone modernization plans, BT upgraded over 400 payphones in various cities to digital units called street hubs.
These offer free ultra-fast public WiFi, free UK phone calls, USB device charging, environmental monitoring and much more.
The Street Hubs also play an important role in exchanging public information, including displaying advice from Public Health England and councils across the country during the Coronavius pandemic.
Street Hubs from part of BT’s plan to transform major streets with a digital communications service for the 21st century.
Martin Fagan, national secretary for the Community Heartbeat Trust charity, said, “BT’s phone booths are iconic British structures and their repurposing for these lifesaving uses has breathed new life into them.
“To date we’ve rebuilt around 800 ourselves, and another 200 are in preparation. It’s important to place the devices in the heart of a community to save time.
“Kiosks have historically been the center of the community, making them great locations for defibrillators.”
Municipalities can introduce a kiosk if they are a recognized public body, e.g. B. a parish council, a parish council or a city council.
Boxes can also be adopted by registered charities or by people who have a payphone on their own land.
BT will continue to supply electricity, if it already exists, in order to supply the light for the accepted telephone booths with electricity free of charge. Further information can be found at bt.com/adopt.