As Transit Wireless is hard at work bringing cell service to the New York City subway stations, the company has announced a deal to bring WiFi underground as well. Transit Wireless announced a deal today with Boingo that will see the company manage and operate a WiFi network within the city’s underground subway stations. The roll-out for the service will be gradual over the next five years and will cover stations in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
“Boingo has a proven expertise in operating easy-to-use wireless services in high-traffic venues serving people on-the-go,” Transit Wireless CEO William A. Bayne Jr. said in a statement. “Our partnership with Boingo helps us deliver on our commitment to providing best-in-class technology amenities to our community of commuters and visitors to the Big Apple.”
Boingo, known for its vast array of airport networks it operates, will be charging for the service. It’s roaming partners, which include Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon may be able to use the service for a lesser charge as well. On the one hand, this is a positive development for New York City subway riders. On the other, it’s somewhat redundant as smart phone users will be able to use Transit Wireless’ own network to access the Internet. Still, this move should further the push toward technological innovation in the transit space.
8 comments
It may be redundant for people on AT&T and T-Mobile, but Sprint and even Verizon still have not come to an agreement with Transit Wireless. Very annoying!
Speaking of redundant infrastructure, how about reusing the payphone infrastructure for wireless systems? The conduits can carry power and fiber optics.
Not invented here.
This is not news. The Boingo network has been active for months, at least in the 14th & 8th station.
True, I’ve seen it as well. Probably a part of a test. The “news” I guess is that they decided to go ahead and implement it system-wide along with the cellular antennas.
Wifi has always been a part of the implementation. The “news” is that Boingo is the provider. The thing that is unclear to me is exactly which wireless customers will be able to use the system for free, specifically on Verizon. Currently, only Verizon High Speed Internet/FIOS customers and Cellular Broadband customers are allowed to use their wifi provider network.
Maybe the reason we don’t have agreements with Sprint and Verizon is that either Transit Wireless or Sprint/Verizon don’t want to bother lighting up a CDMA system when 4G/LTE is increasingly the rule.
What’s the point of having a wi-fi service that you have to pay for? It makes somewhat more sense than at airports because there are more regular users on one system, but finding a seat is unreliable and trips are short; wi-fi isn’t all that useful, especially when it’s not free.
[…] steady rollout of cell service to underground New York City subway stations, Boingo will be providing Wi-Fi service as well, and this summer, thanks to Google, the access is free. Beginning this past Monday at the […]