PHONE UPSTART SWEEPS BOOTHS 

"FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS COUNTRY PAYPHONE CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE A CHOICE OF SERVICE."

WITH THOSE WORDS A NEW PHONE SERVICE ARRIVED IN BRITAIN. IT WILL EVENTUALLY SPREAD WORLD-WIDE. THE AGE OF MONOPOLIES IS OVER. THE GLOBAL DIGITAL HIGHWAY HAS ERECTED ITS FIRST PUBLIC BASE.

MERCURY COMMUNICATIONS, A SUBSIDARY OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNI- CATIONS GIANT CABLE AND WIRELESS HAVE JUST OPENED UP THEIR FIRST NEW PAYPHONE BOOTHS IN LONDON. THEY REPLACE THE CLASSIC "JUBILEE" STYLE RED PHONE BOX USED BY THE POST OFFICE AND BRITISH TELECOM OVER THE PAST FIFTY YEARS. WITH AN UNTYPICAL BRITISH APPROACH THEY OPENED WITH AN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FEATURING BRITISH CAVALRY CHARGING NAPOLEAN'S FORCES AT WATERLOO. AND WATERLOO STATION IS WHERE THESE FIRST PHONES WERE INSTALLED.

MORE THAN APPEALING DESIGN AND STURDY CONSTRUCTION HAS BEEN BUILT INTO THIS NEW SERVICE. THEIR SMART PHONES.

ANY VANDALISM IS REPORTED AUTOMATICALLY BY THE PHONE ITSELF TO MERCURY COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY HEADQUARTERS. THE PHONE AND ITS LOCATION ARE IMMEDIATELY KNOWN AND DISRUPTION CORRECTED. ALL ARE CONNECTED TO THEIR OWN DIGITAL AND SATELLITE UPLINK NETWORK.

ALSO FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE ON THIS PLANET THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DISCOVER IS THE FACT THAT THESE PHONE BOOTHS WILL BE CLEANED DAILY! THE COMPANY BELIEVES THAT CLEAN PHONEBOOTHS WILL REDUCE VANDALISM.

RATES FOR THIS NEW SERVICE ARE CHEAPER THAN FROM COMPETING BRITISH TELECOM WITH A MINIMUM CHARGE OF JUST FIVE PENCE (C.10 CENTS) AND WITH A CARD SYSTEM THAT CHARGES CUSTOMERS ONLY FOR WHAT TIME THEY USE. MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ARE ALSO ACCEPTABLE INCLUDING AMERICAN EXPRESS, VISA, DINER'S CLUB, ETC. PRE-PAYMENT MERCURYCARDS ARE AVAILABLE IN DENOMINATIONS UP TO TEN POUNDS. (C. $22.). CALLS WILL BE FROM FIVE TO 20 PERCENT CHEAPER DEPENDING HOW FAR THE CALL TRAVELS ON THE MERCURY DIGITAL SYSTEM BEFORE IT TIES-IN TO ANOTHER, USUALLY INFERIOR, SYSTEM. ALL INTERNATIONAL CALLS ARE 18 PERCENT CHEAPER WHEN THE CALL IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED BY MERCURY THROUGH THEIR COMMUNI- CATIONS CENTRES IN LONDON AND OXFORDSHIRE, INCLUDING CALLS TO CANADA. THEY WILL BE SUPPLEMENTED BY MID-1989 BY A TRANS-ATLANTIC CABLE (PTATI), THE NEXT STAGE OF THEIR GLOBAL DIGITAL HIGHWAY.

ALTHOUGH THE FIRST LONDON PAYPHONES ARE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE MERCURY FIBREOPTIC SYSTEM THOSE IN SOME OTHER CITIES WILL TIE-IN WITH LOCAL CABLE SYSTEMS !

FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED THERE IS A PIP ON KEYPAD FIGURE 5 AND AN AUDIBLE INDICATION WHEN YOU PREPAYCARD IS RUNNING LOW.

MERCURY PUT THE SYSTEM ON STREAM IN JUST NINE MONTHS AFTER RECEIVING THE GOVERNMENT APPROVAL TO CLASH WITH THE PREVIOUS MONOPOLY-HOLDER BRITISH TELECOM.

TWENTY-SIX PAYPHONES AT THE WATERLOO LOCATION ARE THE START OF THIS NEW PROJECT. BY SPRING 400 OTHERS WILL BE LOCATED IN THE LONDON AREA. THEY WILL APPEAR IN OTHER STATIONS, SHOPPING MALLS AND SELECTED STREET LOCATIONS. IN 1989 OTHERS ARE SCHEDULED TO BE INSTALLED AT AIRPORTS AND OTHER MAJOR TOWNS AND CITIES SUCH AS BIRMINGHAM, MANCHESTER, EDINBURGH AND BRISTOL. AS MERCURYS FIBRE OPTIC NETWORK EXPANDS OTHER UNITS WILL BE ATTACHED.

THESE NEW PHONES HAVE A LIQUID CRYSTAL READOUT DISPLAY AND VOLUME CONTROL. LATER IN '89 HOTEL RESERVATIONS, TAXI CALLS AND RAIL ENQUIRIES WILL BE AVAILABLE BY PRESSING A SINGLE BUTTON.

THREE DIFFERENT DESIGNS ARE USED DEPENDING ON THE AESTHETIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE LOCATION. MORE INFORMATION: NICK BUNDY, MERCURY COMMUNICATIONS, 90 LONG ACRE, LONDON, WC2, ENGLAND.

PHONE: 01-528-2000.

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