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  • 53 messages
  • June 21, 2022 17:19
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June 21, 2022 17:19
Dear collectors,

This morning I was informed that Wim Dik, former chairman of the board of directors of PTT/KPN Telecom in the period 1989-2001, passed away on Sunday. As chairman of the board of directors, he was very involved in policy regarding telephone cards and payphones. In the period 2019-2020, in the context of a publication on the history of Dutch telephone cards, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Dik several times about his memories of telephone cards.

Dik saw the telephone card as one of the most important products sold by PTT Telecom. According to Dik, it was PTT Telecom's calling card. Hence the choice to place the departments responsible for the design (Art and Design) and production (Card & Payphone Services) of telephone cards under his direct management. In its heyday, the telephone cards provided enormous income with relatively low production costs. Collectors, who bought the cards from PTT Telecom at extra cost and often left these cards unused, only increased their profits.

Dik was able to tell in detail about the public presentations of new ticket cards, often by the PR department under the direction of Jacques Bartels, a spectacle was made of it. From a boat trip on the Rhine to a look a like Pamela Anderson (including plastic breasts) who fell off the stage. In addition, Dik remembered how he himself introduced the idea of the Snelfoon. Investigations showed that there were too few payphones at the train stations. According to Dik, this problem was not solved by installing more telephone booths, but by limiting the talk time per call. This is how Snelfoons were installed at major Dutch train stations.

Dik has always been surprised that other telephone card collectors have never shown any interest in his stories behind the telephone cards. Fortunately I was still in time to speak to him and to unlock his phone card archive for Lastdodo, or as he put it himself, 'receive the dowry'. With his death, the Dutch telephone card loses one of its pioneers. I wish his wife Alice, children and grandchildren a lot of strength.

Sincerely,

Sebastiaan
Ussie87
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  • Catalogue manager
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  • June 21, 2022 18:10
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June 21, 2022 18:10
Wim Dik was a passionate director, who was not afraid to step into the foreground to draw attention to something. This is in contrast to the invisible and therefore colorless top of KPN, among others. Unfortunately, in today's business world we miss more and more people like Wim Dik. Best wishes to his relatives.
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