High Wycombe to get futuristic new phone boxes with Wi-Fi and defibrillators

Sunday, 14 January 2024 07:00

By Charlie Smith - Local Democracy Reporter

Futuristic new phone boxes offering free ultrafast Wi-Fi and defibrillators are coming to High Wycombe.

The network of JCDecaux communication hubs will be installed on streets in the town centre after planning applications were approved.

Designed to “replace the traditional phone box”, the hubs are proposed to be located opposite 30 Oxford Road, outside 120-123 Oxford Road, outside 30 White Hart Street and outside Howard Court, Lily’s Walk.

The hubs also offer free phone calls to landlines and charities, wayfinding, device charging, rapid connection to emergency services, public messaging capabilities and feature large LCD screens to display adverts.

The ‘vandal-resistant’ units can also provide a platform for technologies that record and show environmental conditions, CCTV and “collect key data”.

The application says: “The rise in mobile phone use has led to a decline in the use of the traditional public payphone.”

Local resident Mrs Ashleigh Prince objected to the hub at Howard Court, branding it “completely unnecessary” and saying it would be “another thing adding to the light pollution that we already have”.

She added: “Our sleep has already been interrupted by the light illuminated by the Anytime Fitness and the car park; we don’t want something else adding to that.”