COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

BT have revealed that they are reviewing their position



Coventry's digital revolution has suffered a setback as the council's planning officers have put a dent in plans to roll out free super fast Wi-Fi across the city .

Broadband giants BT unveiled plans to install 22 digital street units known as InLinks last month - replacing payphones.

And these units would offer free Wi-Fi, phone charging facilities and free phone call capacities.

Coventry was set to follow in the footsteps of London, Leeds, Glasgow, Southampton and Gateshead, but the recent council planning decision has placed the scheme in jeapardy.

In July, BT submitted their planning applications for all 22 InLink units, and last week the council made their decisions.

However, BT have been dealt a blow, as planning permission for 20 of the 22 units has been refused.

Though each of the applications were judged individually, many of the reasons given by council planning officers were the same for each one.

The main reasons offered by planning officers for refusal were:

• The totems would introduce visual clutter which would have a "negative impact" on the appearance of the area
  
  
• The proposal is contrary to a number of policies set out in the Coventry Local Plan
  
  
• It would cause harm to the Grade II listed Upper Precinct and other listed buildings
  
  
• They could cause direct conflict with pedestrian routes, obstructing visibility and pedestrian flow

InLink were quick to express their disappointment over Coventry City Council's decision, and it appears as though, despite receiving consent for two totems, the entire project may now be at risk.

A spokesperson for InLink UK said: "We and our partner BT are obviously disappointed our plans to bring InLinks to Coventry has suffered a setback having seen a number of planning applications refused. We have however received two planning consents for our InLinks, and are now reviewing our position and deciding on next steps.

"Elsewhere in the UK, InLinks are proving popular, with the service offering free calls, free ultrafast wi-fi, and screens providing useful information on local services and events. The introduction of the InLinks to a city also fund the removal of at least two BT payphones for each InLink installed, reducing the amount of street clutter and returning valuable pavement space back to the community.

"More than 200 InLinks have already been installed across seven UK cities, with Swansea the most recent city to welcome the InLinks; and they’ve been very well received.

"The service currently has over 148,000 Wi-Fi subscribers, and on average more than 50,000 calls are made across the network each week. So far there have been more than five million ultrafast Wi-Fi sessions and more than one million free phone calls made, saving the public more than £660,000 on phone calls."