{
  "report": {
    "title": "A Century in Red",
    "subtitle": "100 years of the red telephone box, 1926 to 2026",
    "number": 31,
    "series": "BroadbandSwitch.uk research reports",
    "publisher": "BroadbandSwitch.uk, a trading name of SearchSwitchSave",
    "author": "Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith CMgr DBA",
    "reviewer": "Adrian James",
    "published": "2026-08-21",
    "data_verified": "2026-08-18",
    "url": "https://broadbandswitch.uk/reports/a-century-in-red.html",
    "pdf": "https://broadbandswitch.uk/reports/a-century-in-red/A-Century-in-Red-100-Years-of-the-Red-Telephone-Box-BroadbandSwitch-UK.pdf",
    "licence": "Quote freely with attribution to BroadbandSwitch.uk",
    "cite_as": "BroadbandSwitch.uk, A Century in Red (Report No. 31), August 2026, broadbandswitch.uk/reports/a-century-in-red.html"
  },
  "headline_findings": [
    "The K2, Britain's first red telephone kiosk, reached London's streets in 1926; the design turns 100 in 2026.",
    "No official commemoration exists: Royal Mail's published 2026 stamp programme and the Royal Mint's announced 2026 coins include no kiosk issue, and BT has announced no centenary campaign as of 18 August 2026.",
    "About 20,000 public payphones remain of a 92,000 peak; about 3,000 are classic red kiosks.",
    "More than 7,200 kiosks have been adopted for £1 since 2008; over 700 now hold public defibrillators.",
    "Full fibre is now available to 82% of UK homes; the copper network that fed every kiosk closes on 31 January 2027."
  ],
  "key_statistics": [
    {"figure": "First K2 installed", "value": "London, 1926", "source": "London Museum", "date": "n.d."},
    {"figure": "K2 kiosks installed / surviving", "value": "about 1,700 / just over 200", "source": "Historic England", "date": "n.d."},
    {"figure": "Cost of a new K2 (K1)", "value": "£33 (£13)", "source": "Linge et al. (2024)", "date": "1926 papers"},
    {"figure": "K6 designed / rolled out", "value": "1935 / 1936", "source": "London Museum", "date": "n.d."},
    {"figure": "K6 kiosks installed / surviving", "value": "about 60,000 / over 11,000", "source": "London Museum; verification list", "date": "n.d."},
    {"figure": "K6 size and weight", "value": "8 ft tall, 3 ft wide, about 750 kg", "source": "The Telephone Box", "date": "n.d."},
    {"figure": "The exact red", "value": "Currant red BS381C 539", "source": "Department for Communities NI", "date": "n.d."},
    {"figure": "Listed kiosks, UK", "value": "about 3,000", "source": "Nicholls-Lee, Country Life", "date": "2026"},
    {"figure": "Payphones at peak", "value": "92,000 (some sources say 100,000)", "source": "ISPreview; BBC News", "date": "2023"},
    {"figure": "Payphones / red kiosks, 2017", "value": "about 40,000 / 7,000", "source": "BBC News", "date": "2017"},
    {"figure": "Annual upkeep of the estate, 2017", "value": "about £6 million", "source": "BBC News", "date": "2017"},
    {"figure": "Payphones, 2022", "value": "about 20,000 (19,433 BT + about 290 KCOM)", "source": "Ofcom", "date": "June 2022"},
    {"figure": "Payphones / red kiosks, 2023", "value": "about 20,000 / 3,000", "source": "BT Group", "date": "2023"},
    {"figure": "Red kiosks open to adoption", "value": "about 1,000", "source": "BT Group", "date": "2023"},
    {"figure": "Call minutes, 2002 / 2021 to 22", "value": "800 million / 4 million", "source": "Ofcom", "date": "2022"},
    {"figure": "US payphones, 1999 peak / 2016", "value": "over 2.1 million / under 100,000", "source": "FCC", "date": "2018"},
    {"figure": "999 and 112 calls from boxes", "value": "almost 150,000", "source": "Ofcom", "date": "year to May 2020"},
    {"figure": "Childline / Samaritans calls", "value": "25,000 / 20,000", "source": "Ofcom", "date": "year to May 2020"},
    {"figure": "Boxes protected by Ofcom rules", "value": "5,000 estimated, revised to at least 1,400", "source": "Ofcom; BBC News", "date": "2022"},
    {"figure": "Kiosks adopted since 2008", "value": "more than 7,200", "source": "BT Group", "date": "2023"},
    {"figure": "Defibrillator conversions", "value": "more than 700", "source": "BT Group", "date": "2023"},
    {"figure": "Guildford K6 auction sale", "value": "£8,000 (guide £7,500)", "source": "BBC News; Surrey Live", "date": "2025"},
    {"figure": "Two Canterbury kiosks", "value": "£17,000", "source": "BBC News", "date": "2025"},
    {"figure": "Bath kiosk, charity sale", "value": "£1", "source": "BBC News", "date": "2025"},
    {"figure": "Full fibre availability", "value": "82% of UK homes (24.9 million)", "source": "Ofcom", "date": "2026-05-13"},
    {"figure": "Copper network switch off", "value": "2027-01-31", "source": "Openreach", "date": "n.d."}
  ],
  "faq": [
    {"q": "How many red telephone boxes are left in the UK?", "a": "About 3,000 still work as phones within BT's estate of roughly 20,000 payphones (BT Group, 2023). Around 3,000 kiosks hold listed status, and thousands more survive in adopted, museum or private hands."},
    {"q": "How do I adopt a red phone box?", "a": "Recognised public bodies such as parish, town and community councils, and registered charities, can adopt a decommissioned kiosk from BT for £1, and BT keeps powering the light. Start at bt.com/adopt. For defibrillator projects, the Community Heartbeat Trust can help."},
    {"q": "Can a private individual buy a red phone box?", "a": "Not through the £1 scheme unless the box stands on your own land, but decommissioned kiosks come up at auction where anyone can bid: genuine listed K6s made £8,000 to £17,000 in 2024 to 2025 sales, and refurbished kiosks are sold worldwide through BT's approved reseller X2Connect."},
    {"q": "Why can BT not remove some phone boxes?", "a": "Ofcom's rules protect the last box at a site if it has no four network mobile coverage, stands at an accident or suicide hotspot, made 52 or more calls in the past year, or is otherwise reasonably needed."},
    {"q": "What happens to phone boxes after the 2027 switch off?", "a": "The copper network closes on 31 January 2027 and surviving payphones move to digital lines, with at least three hours of battery backup where a box may be needed during a power cut."}
  ],
  "images_note": "Two period scene illustrations in the report are AI generated and labelled as such in captions, file names and the manifest. All other photography is from the BroadbandSwitch.uk image library except the BT Street Hub image, used courtesy of BT.",
  "contact": "press@searchswitchsave.com"
}