New high-tech phone kiosks with defibrillators and digital maps could come to Barnsley
They could replace ageing phone booths across the town
A new wave of high-tech public phone kiosks – complete with emergency defibrillators – could soon appear on Barnsley’s streets under plans to bringing modern communication facilities back to communities.
A total of 12 planning applications have been lodged with Barnsley Council by New World Payphones (NWP Street Ltd), proposing the installation of the kiosks at prominent locations including Peel Street, Queen Street, Shambles Street, Sheffield Road, and outside Barnsley Interchange.
The company says the new kiosks will not only provide vital telephone services, especially in emergencies, but also offer touchscreen maps, contactless payments, and potentially small cell connectivity to support mobile networks.
The kiosks are set to replace older phone boxes which NWP says are no longer fit for purpose, often inaccessible, and have become hotspots for vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
Unlike traditional kiosks, the new stainless-steel units will be wheelchair accessible and regularly cleaned and maintained every two weeks. A small digital display screen on the rear of each kiosk is included in the design, replacing the static poster advertising seen on older models.
The company emphasises the ongoing need for public phone boxes, especially for the estimated 2.68 million people in the UK without mobile phones and for those in areas with poor mobile coverage. Around 150,000 calls were made to emergency services from phone boxes in the year to May 2020, along with tens of thousands of calls to charities such as Childline and the Samaritans.