LinkNYC

LinkNYC
Founded 2014
Area served
 New York City
Brands LinkNYC
Services Wireless communication
Owner CityBridge consortium:
Intersection
Qualcomm
CIVIQ Smartscapes
Website link.nyc

LinkNYC is an infrastructure project designed to create a network to cover New York City with free Wi-Fi service.[1] The plan was announced by the mayor's office on November 17, 2014.[2] The project brings free, encrypted, gigabit wireless internet coverage to the five boroughs by converting old payphones into hotspot points. Deployment was originally scheduled to start by late 2015,[3] but the first kiosks were deployed in January 2016.[4] LinkNYC is intended to be the largest and fastest public wifi network in the world.[5]

History

On April 30, 2014, the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications requested proposals for how to go about converting the city's over 7,000 dated payphones into a citywide Wi-Fi network. A previous competition sought ideas to "reinvent" the payphones and 125 responses suggested a Wi-Fi network, but none came with plans for how that would be accomplished. A new competition was held and the winner stood to receive a contract to maintain up to 10,000 communication points.[6]

The bid was awarded to the consortium CityBridge, which consists of Qualcomm, Titan, Control Group, and Comark.[7] In June 2015, Control Group and Titan announced their merger into one company, known as Intersection, and acquisition by a consortium of investors led by Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google that focuses on solving problems unique to urban environments.[8][9][10] Daniel L. Doctoroff, the former CEO of Bloomberg L.P. and former New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding, is the CEO of Sidewalk Labs.[11]

Kiosks

Keyboard

The kiosks are 9.5 feet (2.9m) tall, and are ADA compliant.[12] Each is equipped with a gigabit speed, encrypted Wi-Fi connection with a 150 foot range. The kiosks include USB charging stations and free calling, through a partnership with Vonage. An integrated touchscreen offers maps and info about city services, and a digital display shows advertising and public service announcements. The Wi-Fi technology comes from Ruckus Wireless and is enabled by Qualcomm's Vive 802.11ac Wave 2 4x4 chipsets.[4]

Network

CityBridge announced that it would be setting up about 7,000 access points, called "Links". Coverage was set to be up by late 2015, starting with about 500 Links in areas that already have payphones, and later to other areas.[3]

The consortium stated in its press release that the network would be free, and funded by advertisement.[7] Links will be iconic connection points, designed by Antenna, that will have free phone calls to all 50 states in the USA, an Android tablet to access city maps, directions, and services, and free charging stations for smartphones. The announced specifications include a 150-foot (46 m) radius Wi-Fi coverage, encrypted public access, gigabit speed, and a display for advertisement.[3]

CityBridge emphasized that it takes security and privacy seriously, and created a "forward-thinking policy", but didn't publish it, nor the encryption specs or technology.[7] There will be two types of networks, a private network available to iOS devices, and a public network available to all devices.[13]

On December 10, 2014, the network was approved by the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee.[14] Installation of a station at 3rd Avenue and 15th Street began on December 28, 2015.[15] By mid-July 2016, the planned roll-out of 500 hubs throughout New York City should occur.[16]

The Links feature a red 911 call button, two USB inputs that will work for powering devices only (no data transferring via USB),[17] and individual tablets. Vonage provides free domestic phone call service, with the ability to make international calls using calling cards.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gould, Jessica (5 January 2016). "Goodbye Pay Phones, Hello LinkNYC". WNYC. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "De Blasio Administration Announces Winner of Competition to Replace Payphones with Five-Borough Wi-Fi Network". Government of New York City. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Aguilar, Mario (17 November 2014). "The Plan to Turn NYC's Old Payphones Into Free Gigabit Wi-Fi Hot Spots". Gizmodo. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 Kleiman, Rob (19 January 2016). "The first wave of high-speed public internet access via LinkNYC kiosks has arrived". psfk.com. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Alba, Alejandro (January 5, 2016). "New York to start replacing payphones with Wi-Fi kiosks". NY Daily News. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  6. ↑ McCarthy, Tyler (8 May 2014). "New York City Seriously Wants To Turn Pay Phones Into WiFi Hotspots". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "Gigabit Wi-Fi And that’s just the beginning" (PDF). CityBridge. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Dale, Brady (16 June 2015). "Seven Urban Technologies Google-Backed Sidewalk Labs Might Advance". Observer. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Control Group and Titan Merge to form Intersection" (PDF) (Press release). 23 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Google's Sidewalk Labs is taking over the plan to blanket NYC with free Wi-Fi". The Verge. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  11. 1 2 Crow, David (5 January 2016). "First WiFi kiosks set to land on New York’s streets". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Crow, David (5 January 2016). "The City’s First Wi-Fi Kiosks Unveiled Today!". 6sqft.com. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  13. ↑ Carman, Ashley (20 January 2016). "How secure are New York City's new Wi-Fi hubs?". The Verge. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "DoITT - LinkNYC Franchises". New York City Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT). 10 December 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Brandom, Russell (28 December 2015). "New York is finally installing its promised public gigabit Wi-Fi". The Verge. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  16. ↑ Brandom, Russell (19 January 2016). "New York's first public Wi-Fi hubs are now live". The Verge. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  17. ↑ Zeman, Eric (20 January 2016). "LinkNYC WiFi Hotspots Kick Off". InformationWeek. Retrieved 26 January 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.