Deployed First #LinkNYC Kiosks Replacing Payphones Now Fully Functional
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Counsel to the Mayor Maya Wiley, DoITT Commissioner Anne Roest, and representatives from CityBridge this week officially announced the public launch of LinkNYC, which is transforming the City’s old payphones into Wi-Fi kiosks to create the world’s largest and fastest free public Wi-Fi network.
The Links – 16 currently in Manhattan but eventually up to 10,000 – will provide New Yorkers and visitors with an incredibly fast, secure and private Wi-Fi network with a 150-foot radius, free domestic calling, two USB charging ports, a tablet for accessing the Internet, and a red 911 button to contact emergency services. And Link sports two digital out-of-home screens with advertising.
Links will be installed and activated on a rolling basis, with over 500 kiosks in all five boroughs by the end of July, and over 4,500 by mid-2019. The first Links to go up in the other boroughs by July will be in the areas of St. George, Staten Island; Jamaica, Queens; South Bronx; and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.
Mayor de Blasio said, “LinkNYC brings us a couple steps closer to our goal of leveling the playing field and providing every New Yorker with access to the most important tool of the 21st century.”
LinkNYC will offer an encrypted network for HotSpot 2.0-enabled devices, making it the first encrypted public Wi-Fi network of this scale to add a critical layer of protection to personal data. The de Blasio Administration and CityBridge have also created a customer-first privacy policy that ensures personal information is never shared or sold for third party use. Each Link will have at least 24 hours of back-up battery power to enable 911 calling capability in the event of the loss of commercial power.
“As cities everywhere look for ways to reimagine infrastructure and create more responsive services, LinkNYC sets a new global standard by providing valuable public utilities at no cost to New Yorkers while generating new revenue for our City through a groundbreaking advertising platform,” said Scott Goldsmith, president of media at Intersection, a member of the CityBridge team.
Derek Aberle, president of Qualcomm Inc., another member of the CityBridge team, said, “We hope this groundbreaking initiative signals a major step toward addressing the digital divide and will inspire other cities to reimagine their infrastructure.”
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