An extract from: A HISTORY OF PURLEY: Cont
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When in 1980 the business of the Post Office was divided into separate parts, British Telecom plc was created. Soon after this, public telephones were removed from inside Post Offices, and all the red telephone kiosks in Purley were replaced by new BT -designed boxes, including ones operated by phone cards. With the introduction of competition in 1982, Mercury telephone points appeared -one outside the National Westminster Bank in Russell Hill Road and another in Brighton Road, near the junction with Grovelands Road. BT's response to this was to provide more kiosks in the central Purley area -outside the National Westminster Bank in Brighton Road and in High Street.
In the early years of the telephone service poles carrying wires were a familiar sight in Purley and Coulsdon. The National Telephone Company could not obtain permission to disturb footpaths to bury cables, so they were forced to use an above-ground system. The Post Office, being part of the Civil Service at that time, was given powers to bury cables. The monopoly gained by the GPO in 1912 allowed all cables to be buried, so later the overhead lines and poles were removed. In some parts of Purley a modem form of overhead wiring is used for the final part of the connection, instead of underground wiring emerging at the front wall of the house.
Telephone directories have grown in size as the network has expanded. In 1911 a single directory contained details of all the subscribers in what is now the Greater London area. By the 1960s Purley subscribers were included in the North East Surrey directory , but the number of subscribers is now so great that Purley is included in a directory covering only the London Borough of Croydon area.
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