Telford set for high tech BT Street Hubs
A well used phone box is set to be removed as sites in Telford are earmarked for new free digital hubs.
The phone kiosk on land near the car park at Naylors Row, at The Parade, in Wellington will disappear as long as council planners give the green light.
Other plans that have recently been validated by planners at Telford & Wrekin Council include land next to Coffee 1, which is outside Telford Shopping Centre in Northfield Street and near the Tesco Express, at the Hadley Centre.
Three planning applications lodged so far also include the installation of internally illuminated digital screens with advertising side panels.
A planning statement submitted by Libre Solutions on behalf of Global Media Group says Street Hub is a partnership with BT that provide ultra fast public and encrypted Wi-Fi, enables rapid devise charging through secure power only USB ports, permits free calls and displays community and emergency awareness messaging.
“The installation of the proposed Street Hub unit forms part of a strategic plan for the removal of existing, outdated BT payphones and the introduction of key infrastructure upgrades,” council planners have been told.
Advertising panels pay for the free services but the council has been told that it will be able to use 438 hours per year of free advertising and messaging capacity.
“Each local authority is provided with 5 per cent of screen time on each Street Hub to promote and educate, equivalent to 876 hours per unit or 438 hours per screen,” the applicants write.
The advertising sales team will be working with small and medium-sized businesses, letting them use the screens to reach audiences and drive business growth
The Street Hubs are visited every two weeks for cleaning, by hand and with pressure washers.
Planners at the council will be deciding each application at a later date.
