As news of the MTA’s revived attempt to outfit its underground subway stations with cell and wifi service gains steam, the authority has released the details of its revised deal with Transit Wireless. If all goes according to plan, the city’s 277 underground stops could be fully wired within six years, and while the MTA could realize a few hundred million in revenue and New Yorkers would be able to take advantage of 21st century technology while waiting for the subway, many are wondering if this new service will create a subterranean panacea or a cell-phone prison.

When the reports surfaced that the Transit Wireless deal was back on track, the initial stories were spares on the details, but Bloomberg’s Greg Bensinger and Amy Thomson dug them up. In essence, the terms of similar to the original deal in that Transit Wireless will pay the MTA $46 million to start the project and will foot the $200 million bill for installation as well. The funding will come in part from Transit Wireless’ new partner Broadcast Australia, that company that retrofitted Hong Kong’s metro for wireless service.

Although Broadcast Australia would not reveal the extent of its financial obligations, company officials seemed optimistic that their involvement would be beneficial all around. “We’ve been scanning for opportunities like this one,” Chris Jaeger, the managing director of international business, said. “The project fits very neatly with our business aspirations.”

The original plans called for the following stations to be wired first: 23rd Street and 14th Street on the Eighth Avenue line (A/C/E), 14th Street on the Seventh Avenue line (1/2/3), 14th Street on the Sixth Avenue line (F/M), and Eighth Avenue and Sixth Avenue on the L line. According to Bloomberg News, those stations will be wired first, and the project will start within the next two months. After that, says Transit Wireless, stations “could be completed at a rate of 10 to 15 per month.” That seems wildly optimistic for an MTA technology outfit, but if these companies have the expertise, it wouldn’t be an impossible goal to meet. The company says blueprinting and surveying work is through, and since only the stations — and not the tunnels — will be wired, the work will be unobtrusive.

The next step is the toughest. As was the case back in 2007, it’s no sure thing carriers would sign up. Now, as then, the cell companies will have to make sure that the Transit Wireless fees make sense. With such widespread adoption of cell phones and the prevalence of smart phones and data-ready devices, carriers ought to jump at a chance to bring their signals underground.

So then we arrive at the controversial question: Will cell service underground bring a fresh hell to the subways or will it just be an extension of business as usual? Those who never leave parts of Manhattan south of 125th St. are growing concerned that cell service will ruin that one quiet hour a day, but the truth is that subway cell service is far from unique or new. Although the 277 underground stations — with the exception of those close enough to the surface to pick up signals — aren’t currently wired, the 191 stations above ground have always been cell-phone ready. In the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, straphangers make their phone calls, check their email and idly surf the net while killing time before the train arrives. At the underground stations lucky enough to get spotty service, the same happens. The world, as far as I know, has not ended.

Underground, in cramped quarters where sound carries, the situation may be a little different. Straphangers may grow wary of hearing each other’s conversations echo throughout the station, and the rush to get in a 20-second phone call as the train pulls into a cell-equipped station may start to drive everyone nuts. But it’s a part of moving society forward. Enough people are mindful of their conversations. Enough people will make use of their smart phones to be productive. The underground world will not end.

In September 2007, the MTA chose a little-known company named Transit Wireless to receive a $200 million contract that would allow it to equip all underground subway stations with wireless capabilities. It seemed almost too good to be true, and we quickly learned that, in fact, it was. Just one month later, the agency revealed that Transit Wireless had no financial backing, and as of June 2009, the company was still insolvent.

Yesterday, though, a light — or is that a bar of cell service? — appeared on the horizon as the MTA announced that the deal with Transit Wireless is back on track. Pete Donohue had more in the Daily News:

Transit Wireless will soon start work on wiring stations so riders can make calls and send texts during everyday travels – and during emergencies. Under the original agreement, Transit Wireless was to rig the first batch of Manhattan stations within two years of getting the construction go-ahead. The company would then have four years to wire all other stations.

The MTA board approved the project in September 2007. It didn’t give the “notice to proceed” until last week because the MTA doubted Transit Wireless had solid financing, sources said. MTA brass finally gave the outfit an ultimatum to lock in funding or lose the contract, one source said. Transit Wireless has since brought another company on board, Broadcast Australia, the source said.

Once complete, riders will have cell-phone service on platforms, mezzanines and other parts of stations. For the most part, there won’t be onboard service between station stops. Under the deal, cell-phone companies would pay Transit Wireless to carry their signals, and the MTA would get half the revenue, sources said. Transit Wireless is expected to cover all construction costs.

As Donohue’s sources note, this push to deliver on a three-year-old contract appears to be coming from Jay Walder himself. The MTA CEO and Chairman has made realizing technological innovation at the MTA a priority during his first year at the helm, and although he mentioned that wireless signals underground would not take precedence over projects easier to implement, if the MTA can exploit an outstanding contract that requires another company to pay for the work, they should do so.

On the other hand, I’m not going to count these wifi chickens before they hatch. Transit Wireless’ website is still stuck in late 2007, and the company originally claimed it would pay out a minimum of $46.8 million to New York City Transit over ten years while footing the cost for building a wireless network underground. The price tag on that was pegged at $150 to $200 million three years ago.

Meanwhile, in a person-on-the-street piece, NBC New York’s Jillian Scharr found that reaction among straphangers was mixed. Some look forward to cell — and more importantly, data — service underground while others view it as loud conversations that should remain private invading the public sphere. At least the tunnels won’t be wired so the conversations will stop when the trains arrive. That is, if this plan comes to fruition in the first place.

The MTA, long known for its tight control of its transit data, hosted last night its first developers conference. The agency partnered with Google to discuss with local software developers how it can better create an environment of open information so that entrepreneurs and engineers can produce applications that will help riders with their commutes.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the conference due to my law school finals schedule, but I was able to watch some of it online. One the more intriguing announcements came from MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder when he previewed an app contest the authority will host this fall. With new volumes of open data available to the public, the MTA is going to award prizes for the top three applications in three categories: Best Customer-Friendly Application, Best Visualization of MTA data and Best Mash-Up of MTA and Third-Party Data. The possibilities are endless, and smart phone-equipped riders will be the ones who benefit.

Yet, despite this attention to mobile application development, the MTA is still lacking underground cell service and a plan for implementation. Walder addressed that topic tonight during the Q-and-A session, and Allen Stern of CenterNetworks.com caught the clip on video. Walder spoke about his annoyance with the state of cell service underground and how he is “frustrated with pages upon pages of why it’s not going to happen this decade.”

Currently, he explained, the MTA has issued an RFP for wireless service on commuter rail lines and has signed a deal to equip Grand Central with wireless, but their plans for Transit remain in limbo. “We have a contractual arrangement to be able to get cell service into the subway as well and I hope that we’ll have that in the not too different future as well,” he said. “I think the timeframes we have established for this are simply unacceptable. I don’t believe we can explain to people why it will take until 2019 or something of that nature to be able to get cell service into the subways. And so we’re working on a range of different ways to be able to do it. But it does turn out to be one of the more problematic and vexing issues we’re facing.”

Walder has a reason to be annoyed. The MTA has been talking about underground cell service since 2005 and signed a deal (with a company many believed to be less than reliable) in September 2007. When the promises of a pilot six months after that failed to materialize, I figured the efforts to bring wireless underground were all but dead. It isn’t surprising to hear a decade-long timeline from Walder.

Underground cell service is a tricky thing though. As Stern wrote, “I can’t say I am a huge fan of cell phone service underground. It’s bad enough having to listen to music I am not interested in as if I was at a concert, now we will be subject to 200 phone calls as well.” One of my Twitter followers echoed those sentiments: “Personally I enjoy the one hour of my day that isn’t interrupted by phones, texts and emails.”

But it goes well beyond idle chit-chat and personal conversations. Having a wireless-equipped subway system will allow for greater productivity. It will accomodate those who need to work and those who can’t afford to spend 40 minutes a ride without cell service the opportunity to be plugged in. It will allow New York to better take advantage of its position in a global economy. With the good will, obviously, come the bad of conversations that are too loud or too inappropriate, but that’s the price we pay today. The subways shouldn’t be island away from the technologies of the 21st Century.

It is, then, somewhat ironic for the MTA to be so invested in open data when the phones that run these promised applications don’t work underground. Hopefully, the authority can show a commitment to this aspect of the technology as well.