BT Street Hubs plan to replace 4 phone kiosks with free superfast wi-fi and calls in Inverness city centre, under plans lodged with Highland Council
Several city centre phone boxes could be replaced by free superfast broadband ‘Street Hubs’ after plans were lodged with Highland Council.
BT is seeking permission to remove four phone kiosks - two in Church Street outside Coffee Affair, and two in the High Street next to its junction with Church Street. It has already announced plans to remove the latter due to lack of use.
These would be replaced by two ‘Street Hubs’ erected in new locations close by. The new hub in Church Street would be located on the opposite side of the street outside the Sally shop and Mercure Hotel, while the new hub in the High Street would be located on the pedestrianised portion of the street outside the McDonald’s restaurant.
BT claims the hubs will be capable of providing free wi-fi speeds of up to one gigabyte per second within a 150 metre radius.
The hubs don't have handsets but can be used for people to make free calls which are not time-limited.
Almost 1000 Street Hub units have already gone live in towns and cities elsewhere in the UK.
If approved the hubs would stand around 10ft tall and feature large touch screens that can be used to interact with them, as well as displaying advertising and local information about things like the weather, transport and community events.
"We are currently running real-time information from a range of sources, including local weather and transport information.
"LBC content displayed on the unit shares up-to-the-minute news with local communities, enhancing the outdoor experience.
"In the future we are looking to create relevant community content with open APIs. Similarly, we happily work with local authorities, transport providers, and others to determine what real-time information is most useful to the area and how it can be integrated.
"For example, in London we display real-time Transport for London (TfL) tube status information."
They added: "The rotating content on each Street Hub includes a ring-fenced allocation for community content provided by the local council and community.
"Each local authority is provided with 5% of screen time on each Street Hub to promote and educate, equivalent to 876 hours per unit or 438 hours per screen."
It added that the hubs would be Inspected weekly and cleaned “at least every two weeks” as well as being monitored “24/7” in order to ensure they remain in good condition.
They will also have the ability to house sensors such as those measuring air quality, traffic volumes, etc.
The plans are subject to separate applications for full and advertising consent, with the latter being required due to the planned advertising which would be screened on them.
