A mock-up of the planned Wi-Fi phone stations
New York City could replace public pay-phones in five boroughs with Wi-Fi hubs to build a city-wide wireless internet network.
If approved by city officials and built, it would be the largest municipal Wi-Fi network in the world. The plan was drawn up by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and a consortium called LinkNYC. It ultimately promises free "gigabit" connectivity, wirelessly, across the city. The LinkNYC program will be paid for by advertising on the side of the booths.
Under the plan, as many as 10,000 of the city's 12,360 little-used pay phone booths will be uprooted and replaced with boxes housing public Wi-Fi hotspots; a tablet and dialing pad so people can make free voice calls to US numbers; displays to show advertisements and public notices.
The booths will also have charging stations which you can use to power up your phone or other devices that use a USB cable, as well as a built-in Android tablet that will let you get directions, access city services, and more. The system also has a tactile keypad and braille lettering for accessibility.
The consortium, called CityBridge, consists of Titan, the city's largest existing payphone franchisee; Control Group, a New York-based technology firm; Qualcomm; Comark; as well as extended team members Antenna Design and Transit Wireless.
The consortium hopes to build the boxes, creating 150 new manufacturing, technology and advertising jobs for the city as well as 650 new jobs for those who would provide support services once the stands are installed.
The plan, which still has to be cleared by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee, calls for work to begin on the units some time next year with installations set to follow. The group claims the plan will not require any taxpayer funds and net the city as much as $500m in ad revenues over its first 12 years.
The Wi-Fi signal will work with laptops, smartphones and tablet devices and will extend 100 feet to 200 feet from each pay phone. The city said there would be no limits on usage or bandwidth and there will be no charge to connect to the signal.
LinkNYC says it’ll offer Gigabyte-speed WiFi, allowing users to download a 2-hour movie in as little as 30 seconds.
Worried about connecting to a public WiFi network? LinkNYC says it will offer the first municipal WiFi service in the United States to use encrypted network connections.
UPDATE
On Dec. 10th 2014, the Franchise Control Review Board (FCRC) unanimously voted to approve the franchise agreement on the historic initiative.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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