Skift Take
New Yorkers don't have to worry about losing those few moments of disconnectivity since Wi-Fi still won’t be available on moving trains; however, MTA officials say it could happen in the future.
New Yorkers are able to make phone calls, send texts, receive emails, and access Wi-Fi underground at 30 subway stations for the first time today.
The locations of the newly wired stations were announced in Times Square today by MTA officials and executives from Transit Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Boingo Wireless.
Voice and data service are now available for AT&T and T-Mobile USA customers, and free Wi-Fi will be provided to all passengers via Boingo.
The thirty additions join six stations that were wired in June 2012, but MTA and partners still have a way to go with a planned 241 stations left to complete. All stations are expected to go online by 2016.
Verizon and Sprint have confirmed that they will join AT&T and T-Mobile in providing the underground cell and data service to customers during the first two phases of the roll out.
“Times Square, Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle and other stations, mostly on the West Side, stretching between 18th and 96th streets, are part of the Phase 1 of the service rollout, which has been happening gradually over the last few months,” reported AMNewYork.
The second phase will see 40 stations in midtown and Queens including key stations at Flushing-Main Street, Grand Central-42nd Street, and 34th Street-Herald Square go online in the first quarter of 2014.
New York Governor Cuomo is citing safety as a major motivator for the upgraded technology.
“This goes beyond providing cell service underground. It brings our customers a new level of security –with the ability to dial 911 in an emergency,” said Governor Cuomo. “Customers now know that when they see something, they can now say something using their device to call 911.
View stations with active services here, and below.
| Lines | Station |
|---|---|
| CE | 23 Street – 8 Ave. |
| ACE | 14 Street – 8 Ave. |
| 123 | 14 Street – 7 Ave. |
| FM | 14 Street – 6 Ave. |
| L | 14 Street – 8 Ave. |
| L | 14 Street – 6 Ave. |
| BC | 96 Street |
| BC | 86 Street |
| 1 | 28 Street |
| 1 | 18 Street |
| BC | 81 Street-Museum of Natural History |
| BC | 72 Street |
| 1 | 79 Street |
| 1 | 23 Street |
| 123 | 96 Street |
| 1 | 66 Street-Lincoln Center |
| 123 | 72 Street |
| F | 57 Street |
| BDFM | 47-50 Streets-Rockefeller Center |
| NQR | 57 Street-7 Ave. |
| NR | 28 Street |
| 1 | 50 Street |
| CE | 50 Street |
| NR | 23 Street |
| NR | 49 Street |
| EM | 5 Ave.-53 Street |
| 1 | 59 Street-Columbus Circle |
| ABCD | 59 St-Columbus Circle |
| BDE | 7 Ave. |
| 123 | Times Square-42 Street |
| NQR | Times Square-42 Street |
| 7 | Times Square-42 Street |
| ACE | Times Square-42 Street |
| S | Times Square-42 Street |
| NR | 5 Ave.-59 Street |
| 1 | 86 Street |
The Daily Newsletter
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Photo credit: Two girls sit on the platform to wait for the subway in Manhattan. Santos Gonzalez / Flickr