BT's (British Telecom) application to upgrade an existing telephone box on King Street, Twickenham has been greenlit by Richmond Council.

The company say the proposed unit, the BT Street Hub 3, is "the most modern" unit available and it wants to deploy them across Richmond borough.

At the moment, outside 29 King Street, there is a legacy telephone box which will be replaced with the Street Hub 3.

BT say the new unit includes improved features such as 5G capability, environmental sensors, insight counting and small cell mobile connectivity.

It will also display LED screens on each side, carrying advertisement to fund the unit's free services.

Tomas Novosad, a consumer technology analyst and founder of Full Fibre Checker told Nub News: "BT repurposing existing street furniture like telephone boxes is a small but telling sign of how the UK's broadband infrastructure is being rebuilt from the ground up.

"Openreach has been rolling out full-fibre connections at pace, and older kerbside assets are increasingly being adapted to support that transition rather than retired.

"For residents in areas like Twickenham, it's worth checking whether a full-fibre connection is now available at your address — because the street-level work often runs ahead of what people realise is accessible to them."

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In May and June last year, Richmond Council approved the upgrade of six existing InLink Units within the borough.

The upgrading of the seventh unit was allowed by the Planning Inspector in February 2026.

As part of conditions, in their report a planning officer said: "The pavement surrounding the Street Hub shall be made good to the same condition as the adjacent land prior to the first operation of the Street Hub.

To read the full application click here.