NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Transit Wireless is currently in the beginning of Phase Two of its project with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to bring wireless service and Wi-Fi to more stations of the New York City Subway System. Service will roll out progressively throughout Phase Two, starting with 11 stations in mid-town Manhattan, including Grand Central Terminal, 34th St. Herald Square and Bryant Park. Construction for the entire borough of Queens will begin rolling out in March. Phase Two will provide nearly 250 million annual riders with cellular service on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon Wireless as well as Wi-Fi. The Phase Two build-out is expected to be completed by June 2014.
Transit Wireless is currently building a new, secure Base Station Hotel in Queens to house the wireless carriers’ telecommunications equipment and continues to build the high-speed underground fiber network that will bring cellular service and Wi-Fi to the Queens underground subway stations.
“Hundreds of millions of new annual subway patrons will soon receive the benefits of having all the major wireless carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Wi-Fi service in underground stations – including Queens. This is a huge benefit to all the visitors and tourists that come to New York City every day,” said William A. Bayne Jr., CEO of Transit Wireless. “We are not only extending our network to all underground stations in Queens and additional stations in Manhattan, we are setting the stage for future innovations that will provide riders with an enhanced experience in the New York City subway system.”
“The MTA’s firm commitment to bringing our transit system into the 21st Century continues to bear fruit with new technology that will improve our customers’ daily commutes,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast. “Providing cell phone and data connectivity to our Queens customers is the latest step in keeping everyone connected and bringing a new level of security with the ability to dial 911 in an emergency.”
A Successful 2013 for Underground Wi-Fi
Transit Wireless today also released Wi-Fi statistics from the 36 online stations in 2013. Powered by Boingo Wireless, the Wi-Fi network served 2.6 million connections throughout the year. The network processed more than 60 terabytes (TB) of data – more information than the Hubble Space telescope has collected in two decades – with the average user spending nine minutes on the network. Smartphones like the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S® 4 were the most popular devices to connect to the Wi-Fi network and were responsible for 76 percent of the data usage.
More Wi-Fi usage data can be found on the Transit Wireless blog (www.transitwireless.com/blog) as a downloadable infographic.
To quickly find stations that have wireless service on-the-go, please visit Transit Wireless’ mobile-friendly website at www.NYCSubwayWireless.com.
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