Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Posted last October that Upper West Side subway stations were slated to receive cell phone service “within the year.”

Looks like that target was accurate, as UWS stations between 59th and 96th Streets will begin to go live starting next month, with the roll-out expected to be completed by December.

DNAinfo has the details on the program that’s a joint-venture between the MTA and Transit Wireless.

In addition to 1/2/3/A/B/C/D stations between Columbus Circle and 96th, cellular service is also being added Rockefeller Center and Times Square stations.

These stations will join the pilot stations in Chelsea that were mentioned last October’s post.

While the DNAinfo article makes reference to Wi-Fi being available in addition to cellular service, Columbia Spectator quotes MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz with contradictory information:

Ortiz said that universal Wi-Fi is “an entirely different component that may or may not be coming online” on the Upper West Side.

Wi-Fi is currently available in the Chelsea pilot stations, but apparently it’s being sponsored by Google and is not part of the MTA/Transit Wireless program.

People with smartphones will be able to use their data plans regardless of the availability of Wi-Fi, but having the latter would allow people to bypass their data plan or get on the internet with tablets that don’t have cellular radios.

Filed under: Columbus Circle, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Transportation, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 2 Comments »
Tags: 1 train, 2 train, 3 train, A train, ATT, B train, C train, cell phone, cell phone service, Columbus Circle subway, D train, Kevin Ortiz, mobile, MTA, New York City, NYC, Sprint, Subway, subway cell phone, subway mobile phone, subway wifi, Transit Wireless, Upper West Side, UWS, Verizon