New York's subway stations to be wired for cellphones
By Paul Miller 
posted September 20th 2007 12:55PM
posted September 20th 2007 12:55PM
After holding out for years, MTA has finally caved to the public's demand for cellphones in New York subways. New York City Transit has announced a deal with Transit Wireless, who's forking out $46.8 million over 10 years for the privilege of installing service in the 277 underground stations currently lacking coverage. Cell phone providers will have to pay Transit Wireless for their customers to be able to roam onto the subway network, but it's hard to feel sorry for them: a consortium of major providers, including Verizon and Sprint offered up a mere $40 (not a typo) to install similar coverage. The good news for subway passengers loathe to have the privacy of their commute interrupted by rude cellphone talkers is that coverage won't be extended to train tunnels, only the stations, meaning passengers will have to take care of business before they get on the train. Proponents cite the need for passengers to be able to text message and call out of stations in the case of emergencies, but we're just glad to finally step into a station without going through internet withdrawls. The first six stations should have coverage in two years, and once proven the system will expand to the rest of the stations in the following four years.[Via textually.org]
Ick. Well, at least roaming charges might be just the right incentive for people *not* to blab endlessly on a cell phone while on the subway.
Still, roaming.... Ugh.
So not a fan of this decision...
Thank God we have iPods to drown out the annoying people
Uh, folks, I'm able to use my vx6700 for EVDO and voice on lots of platforms *already*.
When I was working in Manhattan earlier this year and using the N,R,W lines between City Hall and 8th St. I could use EVDO IN THE MOVING TRAIN from the time it approached a station until a few seconds after it pulled away. I think I had success in/around stations on other trench-type lines, including the 4,5,6.
So once this goes in we'll be hit with a roaming fee for something we can get for free now???
Can someone explain to me why they couldn't just install a few repeaters in each station?
you people must have bad carriers, never get roaming charges when i roam.. i've got t-mobile... didn't know roaming charges within the states existed unless you were on a regional plan...
Finally. Now if we could see more of this in other North American cities.
You're kidding me, right? You can't use your cell phone in the subway? The last time I heard about lack of coverage underground was more than 5 years ago...
I think they mean providers pay for roaming, so you don't have to. Just like how all carriers have roaming agreements with other carriers in places they don't have towers.
This is awesome. I have an hour-long commute on the A train, entirely deep underground, and I would be much more productive and less bored if I could get even intermittent data signals. If nothing else, having coverage in the stations would make it bearable to wait for a train that takes forever to come.
Don't you guys realize we (the consumers) will end up paying for it in the end? Regardless of who is providing service or how much it will cost, it will all be passed down to us in the form of new fees and taxes. Ever wonder why you are paying $55/month (the going rate in NYC)for a barebones $40/month plan (which equals about a 37% tax)? When do expect to find "Commuter Service Fee" on my bill?
Whats the big deal about cell phone usage? Its already happening on NY mass transit...its called the bus. This argument is five years behind already. In Chicago you can already talk on the moving trains, but why would you want to? As soon as you get to your stop your conversation is completely drowned out by the automated announcement.
Wow, maybe America can dig itself out of being a third-world country when it comes to ubiquitous communications.
Maybe the American carriers can discover that they can make a killing on SMS on the trains, eventually.
Maybe even American train riders will discover that texting (IM/or SMS) goes a long way in chatting with folks in the midst of all that noise during a boring commute.
Maybe Los Angeles's subways will also wake up and hear about this within the next century.
Seriously.. just to get "emergency calling". You'd think somebody can sue big bucks for this since pay phones don't really exist anymore.
F'ing wow!
wow, thats ridiculous. i just assumed that you can use phones underground, since ive never been on ny subway. when i was in s korea past 2 summers, people were watching live baseball games in the subway lines that were deep deep in the ground.