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# Fourth digital street hub arrives on Tavern Street
- URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/fourth-digital-street-hub-arrives-on-tavern-street/
- Published: 2026-10-12T12:06:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-12T12:07:03.000Z
- Description: A new "digital street hub" has appeared outside Chopstix on Tavern Street, bringing the controversial advertising screens to Ipswich's main high street.
- Author: Oliver Rouane-Williams
- Tags: News, Town Centre & Waterfront

**Why it matters:** The hub is the fourth to be installed in Ipswich town centre, extending a rollout of 75-inch digital advertising boards that has proved divisive in other parts of the UK and in Ipswich.

**The big picture:** BT and Global previously installed three of the hubs in Ipswich town centre, found at:

- Butter Market (outside Tooth Club)
- Westgate Street (at the end of the street)
- Tower Ramparts bus station (outside Sailmakers Shopping Centre)

The new hub is currently covered and is not yet operational.

**What they offer:** The hubs combine advertising with public services, including:

- Ultrafast Wi-Fi with speeds up to 1Gbps
- Free UK landline and mobile calls
- Two waterproof USB charging ports with Quick Charge 2.0
- A touch-screen tablet for accessing council services
- An emergency 999 button with location tracking
- 75-inch screens displaying advertisements

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/10/IMG_6093-1.JPEG)

Digital street hub on Tavern Street (Photo: Oliver Rouane-Williams/Ipswich.co.uk)

**The other side:** The hubs have faced opposition elsewhere in the country.

- Edinburgh council has rejected over 30 applications in the last six years, calling them an "unacceptable and unnecessary intrusion into the streetscape which would result in advertisement clutter."
- In 2022, Brighton and Hove Council rejected applications for six hubs, with planning officers citing concerns about street clutter and pedestrian congestion.
- Swindon Borough Council also rejected a proposal for two hubs, saying "the proposed LCD screen advertisement would be prejudicial to highway safety by virtue of their luminance levels, which would interfere with and/or dazzle drivers on the public highway," while also citing concerns about street clutter and pedestrian traffic.

**The bottom line:** With a fourth hub now installed on Ipswich's main high street, the rollout of the 75-inch advertising boards continues – and so does the debate over whether the public benefits outweigh the impact on the town's streetscape.

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