WASHINGTON-Top U.S. mobile phone carriers have joined to bid for rights to offer wireless service in hundreds of subway stations throughout New York City. Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. are bidding for the project. A Cingular spokesman said Cingular is taking the lead in the project.
Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, said four bids were received for a reported 10-year contract covering nearly 300 subway platforms. Kelly said the winning bidder would pay to install wireless transmission gear in subway stations.
“We don’t have the resources,” said Kelly. “It’s a money maker for those companies.”
Indeed, the successful bidder could have an edge in any later contract to wire tunnels enabling millions of subway riders to communicate on wireless devices while in transit.
In addition to the team of Cingular, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA, others said to have submitted bids are Boston-based American Tower Corp. and a group including Andrew Corp., Dianet Communications Inc., Transit Technologies, Time Warner Cable and GE Capital. Dianet said it was recently awarded a franchise by New York City to attach antenna and related equipment on up to 3,000 city light poles or traffic lights to provide its distributed antenna systems networks.
Several of the companies contacted were not immediately available for comment.
