Monday November 10th 2025
New Street Hub planned for Musselburgh High Street
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
East Lothian’s first Street Hub has been given the go ahead and will replace a phone kiosk on Musselburgh High Street.
The new hub is one of two expected to come to the county’s biggest town with BT also submitting plans to introduce one in Dalkeith, in Midlothian.
The hubs, which are being brought in to replace old telephone boxes and given communities access to free wi-fi, telephone calls and public messages can also be used to monitor air quality and provide mobile 4G and 5G coverage.
Plans for one of the new hubs to replace a phone box on the High Street have been approved by East Lothian Council with a second application for one in North High Street submitted by the communications provider.
In its design statements to planners, BT said: “In today’s digitally enabled world, many phone boxes are sitting unused making them prime sites for antisocial behaviour and vandalism.
“Following the success of our Street Hub programme where we brought free digital services to high streets across the UK, we’re further transforming our legacy payphones into state-of-the-art, fibre-connected digital community hubs.
“Not only does this remove old payphones, freeing-up space and reducing anti-social behaviour, but each Street Hub gives entire communities access to an unprecedented suite of essential free services. This includes ultrafast Wi-Fi, phone calls, and public messaging capabilities.
“It’s also a platform for future technologies – air quality monitoring, emergency messaging, 4G /5G mobile coverage and more.”
BT said it has deployed 900 street hubs since 2017 – with some also extending EE’s mobile network capability to provide 4G and 5G connectivity.
The Street Hubs are also designed to provide rapid device charging and a dedicated 999 calling button for emergencies.
The Street Hub’s screens offer street-level advertising for businesses, including local enterprises and they take up less space than traditional payphones.
Plans for the Dalkeith Street Hub on Jarnac Court have been submitted to Midlothian Council’s planners.
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