Hull never joined the national phone network
- Cream phone boxes
- Its own service since 1902
- First full-fibre city, 2019
- A municipal decision that paid off
How Kingston-upon-Hull grew
The short version, in order. Pick a year.
Hull starts its own telephone service
The only city in Britain that never joined the national network. It ran the service as the Hull Telephone Department from 1904 — which is why the phone boxes here are cream rather than red.
Cream phone boxes, and full fibre before anywhere else
Hull is the only city in Britain that never joined the national telephone network. The council started its own service in 1902, ran it as the Hull Telephone Department from 1904, and kept it — which is why the phone boxes here are cream rather than red, and why the company, now KCOM, still carries the city’s calls.
That independence turned into an advantage. In 2019 KCOM finished upgrading its entire network to full fibre, making Hull the first city in the United Kingdom where every home and business could get it, at a point when roughly eight per cent of the country had access.
A municipal decision made before the First World War is the reason Hull got the future first.
What that means if you trade in Hull
Your customers here are on genuinely fast connections, which removes the usual excuse for a slow website and raises the expectation. A site that stalls looks like your fault rather than the network’s.
Hull is also a proud, self-contained city that notices when a business is not really from here. Local specifics carry unusual weight.
What Kingston-upon-Hull businesses ask us for
Be visibly local
A Hull address and a Hull number do more work here than in most cities. Do not hide them.
Use the bandwidth
Photographs of real work load instantly on this network. There is no reason to be shy about showing the job.
Cover the East Riding honestly
Beverley, Cottingham and Hessle are separate trips. Say which you make.
How well do you know Kingston-upon-Hull?
Five quick questions. Get all five right and you win a 10% off discount code for your website. Every answer is somewhere on this page, so have a read if you get stuck.
Kingston-upon-Hull quiz · 1 of 5
What colour are Hull’s phone boxes?
Common questions
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