BT’s UK Plan to Rollout 2,000 Gigabit WiFi Street Hubs Hits Objections
A little over a year has passed since broadband and telecoms giant BT announced a 10-year project, which aimed to convert a further 2,000 of the operator’s legacy payphones and kiosks – across more than 200 UK towns and cities – into smart Street Hubs, starting this year (here). But objections by some local authorities are starting to mount.
At the last update in March 2024, BT had already upgraded around 1,000 of their old payphone boxes to Street Hub 2 units, which typically offer features such as “up to” 1Gbps capable public WiFi internet connectivity (“within a 150-metre radius“), free UK calling, USB device charging, small cells to boost localised 4G or 5G mobile signals, local information / adverts via a large HD touchscreen display and environmental sensors etc.
However, the rollout seems to be running into a few obstacles, with the planning departments of several local authorities rejecting a growing number of BT’s proposed deployments. For example, 27 similar schemes were rejected in Bristol city centre last year, following 750 objections from members of the public.
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In addition, similar rejections have recently occurred across locations such as Swindon and Salisbury in Wiltshire, Dursley and Stroud in Gloucestershire, and Bristol. Such objections are often particularly strong when BT has been looking to deploy the kiosks inside of conservation areas, where greater scrutiny is often to be expected.
Most of the rejections tend to highlight issues with the kiosk’s siting, design, scale and illumination (Punchl!ne). For example, the Dursely Town Council initially accepted the principle of BT’s idea, but ultimately described the kiosks as “alien” and “incongruous” – one of “an inappropriate design and appearance“.
Planners had something similar to say about BT’s future deployment in Bristol’s Staple Hill and Kingswood: “The proposals would occupy valuable walkway space, restricting the flow of pedestrian movement and hindering accessibility for individuals with mobility issues, serve as a distraction, and obstruct pedestrians’ views, thereby exacerbating safety risks for pedestrians.”
A BT Group Spokesperson told ISPreview:
“Street Hubs are digital units which support our Universal Service Obligation to provide a public call service in the UK. We work with council departments, community members, and BID (Business Improvement District) teams to refine our location selection process.
As well as offering connectivity to make calls and utilise free public Wi-Fi, Street Hubs also offer USBs for rapid device charging, touch-screen tablets displaying real-time public information and a dedicated 999 calling button.”
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Oh Dear, don’t look vandal proof to me. You can just imagine the state of these in a short time!
Kind of pointless to me, everyone has a mobile phone so what’s the point of a Wi-Fi point in a street where you are likely to have coverage as your outside.
The charging ports will be full of gunk, just carry a power bank if you’re always low on charge.
I agree, they need to be smaller and less….. bright in certain locations.
Been one installed outside my local train station since 2021 and it’s not been vandalised. Dispite all the bus stops getting smashed weekly
We’ve had them a while, no issues so far.
Yeah no noteworthy issues in either my city or the neighbouring one that I’ve seen. Phone boxes a different matter.
We have 6 here, we’ve never had an issue with vandals but instead the reliability of the device or screens. I’ve seen multiple Street Hubs where the output on one of the screen are glitchy or it just isn’t on.
Good to hear there have been no problems where they have been situated, being mainly in busy areas will help, with cameras on nearly every street now.
The hub is just the display pillar shown in the image.
I just don’t understand some people. I’ll say this street furniture is a brilliant idea. WiFi is becoming an essential part of everyday life in the UK – anything that makes reliable connectivity easier and more available will surely be useful, essential.
I think there will be justifiable concerns about mounting an artefact from a 1960s film in a conservation area.
What out if that list of features couldn’t fit within a standard phone box footprint?
The smell of urine would be a feature.
A VPN, a laptop and a person downloading porn free of charge! They caught someone like that following the buses here in the Rhondda, there’s so many uses for these … Homeless people can take up residence to, see BT will be helping those who are of no fixed abode to!
But from a registered blind persons point of view, it’s like walking into a brick wall! I’ve done it trying to dodge the bloody sighs in Cardiff to …
These things are just advertising boards for Global with a bit of fairly unnecessary connectivity stuff (wi-fi in a town centre where 4G/5G is fine) to allow them to masquerade as a public amenity. Their primary purpose is to act as LED advertising sites.
We have at least one on the main street, but it only ever seems to carry displays for public body messages.
Will never work in the UK – we just can’t have nice things.
We never have anything as NIMBYs stop everything. We would all still be living in mud huts if NIMBYs had existed in the Middle Ages.
If they’re trying to convert what I think they might be in Stroud, to be fair, I’d consider the line of red phone boxes to be a landmark at this rate (there’s about 3 in a row and they’re currently looking for someone to adopt the kiosks).
Also worth noting the area has no 5G iirc, EE already has the best amount of coverage there with 4G B3 at the top of the town centre (Three 3G B1 as well).
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Swindon and Bristol already have a few Street Hubs and I’m assuming Salisbury probably does too.
Norwich. The telephone service wasn’t functioning for months until a complaint was made from three of these units.. what a joke these units are.. they are adverts not telephony devices.BT insults our intelligence and our society
Free telephone calls. Perfect for drug dealing.. the promised community screen time, a lie. The bulky design of them is anti social to pedestrians. Is BT a failing corporation?
Smaller pavement footprint than the phone boxes they are usually replacing while this and its predecessor have been installed on streets since 2017.
I have no really strong opinion of them either way but the project as a whole is really not indicative of BT being a failing company.
Add York to the objection list: https://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=RDTO5FSJ0FD00
And Cambridge, too: https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/final-bt-street-hub-plans-27635839
Noone wants this big, flashing billboard. I personally would definitely be without public WiFi than tolerate these advertisement boards.
I don’t see the value in them, and I think BT is wasting money on the initiative. These days you can wander into many major stores and make use of their free wifi service. Using a free store-provided service also means you are less likely to be attacked or robbed. A nice idea, but about a decade out of date.
Originally launched in time for the 50th anniversary of the film “2001: A Space Odyssey”. The dimensions of the monolith in the story were in the proportions 1 – 4 – 9. The same figures for the BT hubs are 1 – 3.5 – 8.5.
Not pointless . . .gives the BT personnel gainful employment implementing a covert marketing concept well past its sell by date. So, state normal for them.
The vertical signage part of the kit might have applicability roadsides, in the high street, transport hub forecourts for providing large-scale roa and public transport maps, arrivals and departure information and location information as well as opening/closing times of local facilities.and perhaps summoning the emergency services (If equipped with a camera and microphone)
The workman’s hut jobbie . . . that would provide cover for all manner of miscreants and get mis-used and abused in no time.
Originally I thought they would be a magnet for abuse as you do, but fellow posters who have them in their areas, say there have been no problems, except for glitchy displays at times. Probably won’t be the same everywhere though!
These are excellent were are supposed to get these in North Wales and my question is why has it taken BT 3 years to deploy one in Smethwick where it was approved back in 2022
You put something that size in cities near me you would have homeless people sitting or sleeping in them in no time.
It’s a closed unit. Unless you’ve tiny homeless gnomes nearby should be okay.
Their 999 feature would be brilliant…… if it worked. Half the hubs down here have a ‘Sorry, we’re not working. 999 calls are affected’ message plastered on them.
Which area is that? That they are affected.