ITI Telephone
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These telephones started appearing on the second hand market around a decade ago, and quickly became notorious as copies or fakes of the British 332 telephone. They are neither. Most of them are genuine telephones, manufactured and used in India, using local parts and materials and a design and moulds sourced from Britain, where the 332 phone had become obsolete. They are "genuine" telephones, in the same line as the Irish, Portuguese or Australian versions of the 332. There was however a small batch of poor-quality remakes produced using ill-fitting parts, but apparently made from the original moulds. The bad reputation of the Indian phones was caused by unscrupulous or uninformed dealers who sold both the remakes and the ITI phones as British phones, at British prices. Indian Telephone Industries Ltd was established at Bangalore by the Indian Government in 1948 to begin local manufacture of telephones. It has grown over the years and now manufactures a full range of telephones, switchgear and other parts. It boasts six factories, and is a major contributor to India's communications. In the 1950s, however, it needed a telephone to build and it did not yet have the design skills to design and build its own. It imported the 332 telephone parts from ATM in Britain for a couple of years and assembled them locally. Britain had just replaced their 332 telephones with the new 700 series, Bakelite had given way to newer plastics. ATM sold their superseded moulding equipment to ITI, and ITI used this to start production.
The British Post Office 332 The baseplate had a pressed-in dish to allow rails to be fitted for a note tray at the front of the phone. Not all phones were so fitted, and a blanking plate filled the hole at the front on most phones. The note drawer fitting meant that the phone's works had to be mounted on a chassis above the rails. The baseplate will be marked with the manufacturer code and the year of production e.g. E 52 over 332 (E for Ericsson) The cord was originally a twisted cotton covered one, colour-matched to the telephone. In the course of production it was changed to a rayon-covered anti-twist version of high quality, cotton-wrapped and reinforced wherever it entered the case or the handset. In the final years the plastic-covered curly cord was introduced. The handset itself was usually marked with the manufacturer's code and/or the number 164 in a recessed oval under the handgrip. As the phone was produced for the BPO by a number of companies, a corresponding range of dials was fitted over the years. The moulds had to be reconditioned before use in India. This is usually achieved by sandblasting and re-polishing the moulds, but some detail is lost and the Indian phones look a little worn compared to the British versions. The later Indian telephones may lack the sharp edges of British phones, and they have a duller finish than the British ones. They were produced in the older Bakelite, probably with wood flour or talc as a filler. This gives a slightly less glossy finish and weathers to a dull surface. Apart from this there are major external differences. ITI did away with the note tray, so a blanking plate was fitted across the tray opening. The handset, which on the British ones is marked 164 or carries the manufacturers logo in a recessed panel, now had an oval panel with ITI in stylised script embossed into it. The handset cord was generally the plastic curly cord, not the cloth-covered cord of most British phones, although for some years cloth cords were used. The Indian phones were generally fitted with what looks like an ATE No. 24C dial, but ITI made its own dials using ATE equipment to the same specs as the No. 24C. They will usually carry the ITI brand on the back. Internally the Indian phones are quite different from their British predecessors. Without the need to put in rails for the tray to slide on, a flat baseplate was used. Components were mounted directly to this base rather than built onto a chassis as in the British models. The capacitor is a large rounded one rather than the British flat one. Grommets are fitted to the case where the cords enter. The baseplate will usually be clearly marked "Indian Telephone Industries, Bangalore" with other production markings. At some time during its production run, the phone was fitted with a new Indian-produced receiver capsule. This required that the receiver housing be made slightly smaller on the inside. The colours produced were peach, blue, pink, light green, ivory, white and black. The ITI phones overall were a well-made, well finished design, with minor changes from their British predecessor to allow for India's needs and preferences. Information supplied by Bob Estreich Additional Information Early examples of these telephones are constructed the same as the GPO 300 type. Later models have the all the components fixed to the base plate, two air vents in the base and the feet are press fit. The terminal strip is not numbered as expected - it is numbered in a circular manner, starting lower right and anti-clockwise (see the diagram further down the page). Typical
base markings for an Indian produced telephone are:- The Handset will most probably have ITI stamped centrally on the handle. Other models of ITI telephone are shown pictured towards the bottom of this page. The picture below
gives a good indication of the colour range available:-
The ITI dial is based on the ATM No. 24C dial and therefore the finger stop will always be some distance from the digit 0.
Conversion Information for Plug and Socket working in the UK
General information on GPO 300 type telephones Labels that fit in the sliding tray Identifying a reproduction and collectors information
ITI 332 Equivalent
Beware - The terminals on the connection plate number 1 to 13, starting lower right to left and then top left to right. See below.
Additional Pictures
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Last revised: March 11, 2025FM2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
