GPO Telephones - Statesman and Tremolo

Statesman and Tremolo

At last, The GPO (later BT) began to 'get it' and supply the public with the far greater range of stylish telephone instruments it wanted. If they didn't, with the advent of 'New Plan' sockets, subscribers would stop renting telephones and buy them from elsewhere instead.

These similar telephones were initially only loop disconnect types, when introduced in the early 1980s, but were later available in MF4 (touchtone) versions. They were among the first range of BT phones to be available for outright sale. A novel feature of these phones was that both the dialling circuit and the transmission circuit were on a single microchip. The one shown in the photograph is a 9003R manufactured in January 1984 and is loop disconnect. The Tremolo has squarer, flatter styling with a handle recess in the case, below the handset, by which it may be carried in use.

An unwelcome side-effect of the modern lightweight materials used on these and all later models was that the handsets were too light. Not only did they not reliably hold down the tiny micro-switch, which now served as the switchhook, but users didn't like the feel of them. They felt like 'toys'. They lacked 'gravitas'. This was addressed by the simple inclusion of a steel bar in the handle of the handset to give it weight and make it feel a 'serious' piece of equipment. The telephones could be desk or wall mounted without any modification.

• GPO Statesman 1984 Ivory

• GPO Statesman 1984 Ivory Inside. Notice the lack of components as compared with the 700 series. It's all in the chip.

• BT Tremolo, Ivory