BT begins rollout of new Street Hubs 2.0 in the UK

Charlotte Whyatt • 17 Sep 2021

300 kiosks offering free gigabit wifi will be placed across the UK over the next year. 

BT has started the rollout of its Street Hubs 2.0 in the London borough of Chelsea and Kensington. 

The kiosk-style terminal provides a variety of services for passersby to enjoy including free gigabit wifi, fast-charging ports for smartphones, free phone calls and access to local maps through specially integrated tablets. 

It’s the provider’s plan to place 300 of these units across various UK cities like Glasgow, Cardiff, Nottingham, Birmingham, Solihull, and Southampton in the next 12 months. 

Along with these digital benefits, the kiosks have space to display free advertising for local council services and small businesses and can be fitted with mini mobile phone masts to help boost 4G and 5G coverage. 

Air quality and carbon dioxide sensors can also be fitted on them in order to help an area boost its green credentials.  

It’s hoped that all of the above factors will combine to improve the digital infrastructure of an area, which will in turn attract more footfall and help the high street and small businesses to grow. 

“BT’s Street Hubs ensure that Londoners have access to fast and free Wi-Fi across the capital whilst on the go, they improve mobile signal, and help councils to get vital local information to their residents,” said Theo Blackwell London’s chief digital officer.

BT launched the first versions of these kiosks in 2017 as a replacement for their old telephone booths in 23 cities across the country. 

Source: ITPro