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NYC Subway to Get Wi-Fi and Cell Service, We Look In To Buying Bikes

by Matthew Zuras on July 30, 2010 at 03:30 PM

a view of nyc's subwayThe hopes and fears of all New Yorkers will at once come true, thanks to yesterday's announcement that the city's plan to outfit subway stations with Wi-Fi and cell service are, once again, moving forward. We all knew it would happen eventually; three years ago, the MTA and Transit Wireless struck a deal that would outfit stations, but not tunnels, with wireless access. Still, some of us had hoped that the inevitable might be, like Brooklyn trains, permanently delayed.

Under the new plan, coverage will even extend through some segments of tunnels, as long as the stops on either side are close enough together. (In Manhattan, that basically means all of them.) Four companies have been slated to install the wireless system, one of them being Q-Wireless. In an interview with the NY Daily News, Q-Wireless CEO Alex Mashinsky said that cell service will probably be strongest in wider tunnels, such as the ones that accommodate both express and local tracks, since those wily signals need room to breathe.

Strap-hangers will have a while to wait, though; the MTA has given Transit Wireless two years to test the tech in six stations, and an additional four years to outfit the rest of the city's 277 underground stations. Apparently, subway riders will only get service if Transit Wireless reaches agreements with local carriers, but we have a feeling that won't be a problem. The myth of people finding respite in the cell-free zone of the subway is a bit overblown, as anyone who has transitioned from the underground to the elevated lines can attest. With this development, it'll just mean more cell phone squawking and, possibly, more subway porn viewing during your daily, psychosis-inducing, sardine-can commute. We think we speak for all New Yorkers when we say that we'd gladly forgo wireless service if it meant an end to annual fare hikes. [From: NY Daily News]

Tags: cellphones, CellphoneService, MetropolitanTransitAuthority, mta, nyc, q-wireless, subway, subways, top, TransitWireless, transportation, wifi

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