The
modern New York pay phone will provide no shelter from the rain, no
alcove for the quarreling couple seeking a private moment to reconcile.
It will afford little refuge to the prospective superhero requiring a
wardrobe change.
In
fact, the pay phone of tomorrow will include no traditional phone at
all — nor any payment, for that matter, at least for communication
within the United States.
But
beginning next year, city officials said on Monday, the relics will
evolve into something deemed far more practical: thousands of Wi-Fi hot
spots across the city, providing free Internet access, free domestic
calls using cellphones or a built-in keypad, a charging station for
mobile devices and access to city services and directions.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
administration, which issued a request for proposals earlier this year,
awarded the project to CityBridge, a consortium of companies including
Qualcomm and Titan. The initiative, known as LinkNYC, will be paid for
by advertising revenues from the kiosks’ digital displays.
Administration
officials framed the move as an extension of Mr. de Blasio’s focus on
inequality. Maya Wiley, counsel to the mayor, said low-income people,
particularly blacks and Latinos, relied disproportionately on cellphone
browsing to get online. And data charges can add up.
“It’s going to help us close the digital divide,” Ms. Wiley said during a briefing about the plan at City Hall.
In
a statement, Mr. de Blasio called expanded broadband access “essential
for everything we need to do to be a fair and just city,” adding that
the system would be “the fastest and largest municipal Wi-Fi network in
the world.”
The
city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications said
the network would be 100 times as fast as average municipal Wi-Fi
systems, and more than 20 times as fast as average home Internet service
in the city. A two-hour movie, officials said, could be downloaded in
about 30 seconds.
The
kiosks’ Wi-Fi range will extend 150 feet in any direction, officials
said. Up to 250 devices would be able to use the network at each kiosk
without diminishing service and in heavily trafficked areas access
points can be added.
The
department first tested pay phone Wi-Fi as part of a pilot program
under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2012. Now the city hopes to install
about 10,000 kiosks, each tall and slender — about 9.5 feet high and
less than a foot wide. There are now about 8,400 pay phones.
It is expected to cost more than $200 million to build the network.
While
few have taken issue with the goal of expanded Wi-Fi, some elected
officials have expressed reservations about the city’s decision to
entrust the final product to a single enterprise like CityBridge.
In
a statement on Monday, Letitia James, the city’s public advocate, said
that she had “serious concerns” about the city’s plan, calling it “a
monopolistic arrangement.”
“Instead
of trying to rush the process, the administration should seek a new
authorizing resolution from the City Council that contemplates multiple
companies,” Ms. James said.
The
administration has defended the process, arguing that it allowed for
competitive bidding and noting that CityBridge comprised several
companies.
Earlier
on Monday, Ms. Wiley said that she was prepared for lawsuits against
the city. “In my legal opinion,” she said, “this is the coolest thing
ever.”
Officials
also sought to pre-empt the privacy concerns. The city said it would
“never share or sell any protected personal information” collected on
the network. But companies may use aggregate data, information extracted
anonymously from a pool of users, to guide advertising.
Though pay phones have waned in popularity, they served a critical function during Hurricane Sandy,
when power failures felled other communication sources. The city said
backup batteries would allow for 911 calls to be made for at least 24
hours after power went out.
The
city also plans to remain hospitable to the cape-wearing set.
CityBridge said it would maintain three existing “Superman pay phones”
scattered along West End Avenue, where a small number of traditional
phone booths have survived.
For
the rest of the city, privacy may be more elusive. Without headphones —
or careful attention to volume — calls from the kiosk keypad could be
broadcast semi-publicly, as if on speakerphone.
Colin
O’Donnell, a founding partner at Control Group, a member of CityBridge,
wondered in an interview if the project might fuel cottage industries
for headphone vendors or umbrella salesmen. Monday would have been good
for business. The National Weather Service said it was the city’s
rainiest Nov. 17 on record.
