New York City Will Turn 7,000 Old Payphones Into a Huge, Free Wi-Fi Network

[froggyboy604]

There are roughly 11,000 pay phones scattered across the city, and this plan would retrofit up to 10,000 of them with new hardware that would broadcast free Wi-Fi, financed by ad revenue, within 85 feet of the station. Here's how de Blasio describes the project in a statement:
 
For years, the question was, 'What to do with payphones?' and now we have an answer. By using a historic part of New York's street fabric, we can significantly enhance public availability of increasingly-vital broadband access, invite new and innovative digital services, and increase revenue to the city—all at absolutely no cost to taxpayers.
 
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This is good news for  New York's people with laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

I've seen a few NY payphones, I feel bad for the techs who have to work there setting the Wifi up. The area is a mess usually.

 

[froggyboy604]

I heard in the poorer parts of New York that there are gangs, and other criminals, so setting up Wi-Fi could be dangerous because criminals may steal the techs' money, wifi and networking tools, laptops, and smartphones which they can latter sell to pawn shops, or Craigslist.

I also imagine that the Wi-Fi routers and cables will also get stolen by criminals to be resold online since routers are expensive, and outdoor routers are even more expensive because the Antenna, and other parts need to be more powerful to prevent lag, and extend the range of the signal.