LinkNYC is an announced network to cover New York City with free Wi-Fi service. The plan was announced by the mayor's office on November 17, 2014.[1] It aims to bring free, encrypted, gigabit wireless internet coverage to the five boroughs by converting old payphones into hotspot points. The deployment is set to start by late 2015.[2]
Background
On April 30, 2014, the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications requested proposals for how to go about converting the city's over 7,000 dated payphones into a city-wide Wi-Fi network. Previously a competition was held seeking ideas to "reinvent" the payphones and 125 responses suggested a Wi-Fi network, but none came with plans of how that would be accomplished. So a new competition was held and the winner stood to receive a contract to maintain up to 10,000 communication points.[3]
The bid was awarded to the consortium CityBridge, which consists of Qualcomm, Titan, Control Group, and Comark.[4] In June 2015, Control Group and Titan announced their merger into one company, known as Intersection, and acquisition by a consortium of investors led by Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google.[5][6]
Network
CityBridge announced that it would be setting up about 7,000 access points, called "Links". The coverage is set to be up by late 2015,[2] starting with about 500 Links in areas that already have payphones, and later to other areas.
The consortium stated in its press release that the network would be free, and funded by advertisement.[4] Links will be iconic connection points, designed by Antenna, that will have free phone calls to the US, an Android tablet to access city maps, directions, and services, free charging stations for smartphones. The announced specifications include a 150-foot (46 m) radius Wi-Fi coverage, encrypted public access, gigabit speed, and a display for advertisement.[2]
CityBridge emphasized that it takes security and privacy seriously, and created a "forward-thinking policy", but didn't publish it, nor the encryption specs or technology.[4]
On December 10, 2014, the network was approved by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee.[7]
See also
References
- ^ "De Blasio Administration Announces Winner of Competition to Replace Payphones with Five-Borough Wi-Fi Network" (Press release). The Official Website of the City of New York. November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
- ^ a b c Aguilar, Mario (November 17, 2014). "The Plan to Turn NYC's Old Payphones Into Free Gigabit Wi-Fi Hot Spots". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
- ^ McCarthy, Tyler (May 8, 2014). "New York City Seriously Wants To Turn Pay Phones Into WiFi Hotspots". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Gigabit Wi-Fi And that’s just the beginning" (PDF) (Press release). CityBridge. November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
- ^ "Control Group and Titan Merge to form Intersection" (PDF) (Press release). 23 June 2015.
- ^ "Google's Sidewalk Labs is taking over the plan to blanket NYC with free Wi-Fi". The Verge. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "DoITT - Other Telecommunications Franchises". www.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
External links
|