Although many of us thought they had been turned into public urinals, BT Group plc (LON:BT.A) has come up with a more high-tech evolution of traditional phone booths.
The telecoms giant has unveiled its new InLinkUK service, which will provide ultrafast internet speeds of up to one gigabit per second and free phone calls from what the company is calling “digital street units”.
The units will replace payphones on the high streets of Britain’s major cities, starting with London, where the first InLink unit has been installed on Camden High Street.
Ultra-fast Wi-Fi will be available on the street
Hundreds of users within range of an InLink will be able to access free ultrafast Wi-Fi on the move, which means they will no longer have to loiter around in Starbucks pretending to enjoy the coffee while accessing their Facebook account, Instagramming pictures of their painted toenails, Whatsapping their mates and singing “Love me Tinder” to themselves.
The service is being rolled out in partnership with outdoor advertising company Primesight, and Intersection, the company behind LinkNYC. Since the first units were switched on in New York City in January 2016, more than 1.8 million users have registered to use the Wi-Fi service.
BT said other services on the InLink stations will include free UK landline and mobile phone calls, mobile device charging, access to maps, directions and local services, and a new BT Phone Book app.
InLinks’ digital displays will feature real-time information, such as tube service updates, weather forecasts, and community messaging.
All of this while standing on the street being bumped into by people not looking where they are going because they are too busy looking at their phones. How old fashioned!
“This is the phone box of the future,” claimed Gerry McQuade, chief executive of BT’s Wholesale & Ventures division.
But has anyone told Clark Kent?
BT said the new units take up less space on the street than traditional payphones, and there will be fewer of them, which means more space on the pavement to accommodate Britain’s – well, Camden’s – burgeoning café society.
“InLinkUK from BT brings the payphone up-to-date and gives people the services they need and use every day in the 21st century - and the bonus is it’s all for free,” McQuade said.
McQuade also hypothesised that the InLink system could become even more useful as the Internet of Things becomes a greater part of everyday life. It probably won’t be able to cure the problem of chewing gum on the pavement, however, or, for that matter, the chronic shortage of public urinals.