NYC gets more Wi-Fi options

Wi-Fi in New York City is gaining a lot of attention these days. Following an announcement late last month that AT&T Mobility would roll out free Wi-Fi in Times Square to offload traffic from its congested wireless network in the city, two companies have commented on their requests for proposals to New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority to install Wi-Fi services on commuter trains.
The latest company to get into the bidding is NYFI, which is backed by tower firm Mobilitie L.L.C., which operates a DAS network in Manhattan, among other services. The NYFI proposal would offer free Wi-Fi access for all commuters and recoup the costs by revamping the MTA’s revenue-generating businesses like advertising, according to a press release from the company. “Unlike another proposal, the NYFI solution would not require users to subscribe to a service like Cablevision to access the system without paying. NYFI service is designed to be good for everyone,” NYFI said. Cablevision Systems’ proposal to the MTA would offer its subscribers free access on commuter trains and people who are not subscribers to Cablevision services would pay for Wi-Fi access, according to various reports.
The MTA issued an RFP in March to install Wi-Fi on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Commuter RaidlRoad Co.’s trains and stations, inviting Cablevision and AT&T Corp. to show proof-of-concepts for the service. According to the RFP, the MTA will not incur any costs associated with the service due to its tight budget constraints. “The Railroads’ key business objective for a Wi-Fi network is to improve passenger satisfaction,” MTA said in its RFP. “Our current thinking is that the Wi-Fi service should be marketed as a product of the service provider, not as a Railroad-provided service. We believe that having Wi-Fi service available to our customers would be beneficial and that we should facilitate that result if a private company is prepared to make the required investment in a manner that we determine to be appropriate.”
The MTA RFPs have been extended several times.
MTA Metro-North Railroad worked a deal with the top four wireless carriers to bring wireless and Wi-Fi service to Grand Central Terminal, the Platform/Trainshed area and the Park Avenue Tunnel at no cost to the MTA earlier this year.
AT&T noted the increased popularity of Wi-Fi in its Times Square announcement, saying it handled 53 million Wi-Fi connections in the first quarter. Starbucks is planning to offer free Wi-Fi at its U.S. locations beginning July 1.