NYC Subways Now Receive AT&T and T-Mobile Mobile Phone Service
AT&T and T-Mobile have teamed up with New York City’s MTA system to provide commuters with mobile phone coverage starting Tuesday.
Although no service will be accessible while in the tunnels, four million commuters that use the subway every day will now be able to surf the web, text, or make phone calls while waiting for their train or standing in a corridor.
Various wiring companies battled it out – making multi-million dollar bids in an attempt to stake their claim on the New York underground. American Tower had offered a 10-year contract, with a payment of $6.2 million.
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However, Transit Wireless won the job, which is predicted to be a $500 million to one billion dollar project.
More carriers, such as Verizon, are also planning to jump on board.
The coverage is currently in six stations of New York City’s Chelsea area along the A, C, and E lines. If all goes according to plan, coverage will spread to 271 other stations over the next five years.
Like true New Yorkers, the city’s commuters remain skeptical of expanding coverage. Some worry that expanding cell phone service to the underground will enable terrorists to detonate bombs using their cell phones.
Transit officials and the NYPD are hopeful that staying connected will help commuters during an emergency, for example, when the subway floods or if a suspicious package is spotted.
Some New Yorkers look forward to the expansion because it means more connection more of the time.
"It's pretty cool, pretty awesome," Bernie Delberice, a 22-year old college student from Brooklyn, told the New York Daily News. "You can check your email, check your updates. You can be productive while waiting for the train."
Others worry that underground cell phone coverage will take away from the New York charm, making the technological world far too accessible compared to the real world.
It's one of the last places you can't use your cellphone," Soule Golden, 28, told the Daily News. "It's annoying to having to listen to everyone talking on their cellphones all the time."
NYC is one of the last major cities in the U.S. to accomplish underground coverage; Chicago and San Francisco have both provided the coverage for years.
