They became notorious in New York as havens for porn fans and other malingerers. Now super-fast wifi kiosks — complete with in-built tablets — are coming to London for the first time.
One hundred LinkUK kiosks will replace BT glass payphone booths, initially only in Camden, with plans for a further 650 in London and the UK. They offer speeds of up to a gigabit a second, more than 80 times faster than the free wifi typically available on the street.
Passers-by will also be able to use an Android tablet built into the three-metre-high kiosks for limited internet use, such as looking up maps, weather forecasts and local council services.
The units proved controversial when they were switched on in New York at the start of the year.
LinkNYC had to shut off an unfettered browsing function, with the New York Times reporting the kiosks “attracted people who linger for hours, sometimes drinking and doing drugs and, at times, boldly watching pornography on the sidewalks”.
The London scheme is a venture between BT and American firm Intersection, which insisted it had learned from its experience. Internet access for users of the tablet will be severely restricted.
Colin O’Donnell, chief innovation officer of Intersection, said: “London gets to benefit from all our learnings in New York, almost a year later. It wasn’t so much the adult content that was the issue, it was long-term users, people who had never had access to the internet were thrilled to have access to it. We were able to remove the browser and change the interface a little bit.”
Other free services available from the LinkUK units will include UK landline and mobile phone calls and charging.
Gerry McQuade, chief executive of BT Wholesale and Ventures, said he hoped the service will help elderly and homeless users access local services. He said: “We recognise a lot of the existing public wifi is not serving the purpose it previously had, because things are now demanding higher speeds.”
Theo Blackwell, Camden’s cabinet member for finance, technology and growth, said that the installation of the units, subject to planning permission, would be “a further step” as it “seeks to improve digital access and better serve residents, businesses and visitors”.
Users of the wifi are advised not to input financial information. Each kiosk collects aggregated, anonymised data to check system usage and influence the advertising screens on its sides which fund the service, and from which local councils receive five per cent of the revenue.
