You know all those useless payphones across New York City? They’re about to not be so useless anymore.
After developing a few spots around the city last year, LinkNYC is about to take over the city’s payphones, and each “Link” will serve as a Wi-Fi hub that provides access to high speed internet as well as free domestic phone calls, charging stations for phones, and an interactive touchscreen to help you navigate the city. Perhaps most importantly, the entire program comes at no cost to the taxpayer; the advertising revenue is expected to cover everything.
As many as 10,000 links will be installed across the five boroughs, and the first units should be in use by the end of 2015. In a press release, the company proclaimed that “LinkNYC is a first-of-its-kind communications network that will bring the fastest available municipal Wi-Fi to millions of New Yorkers and visitors.”
This partnership between the Mayor's Office of Technology and Innovation, the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and CityBridge all sounds great, but before declaring victory let’s just make sure everything works.
[via Business Insider]
