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City May Turn Streetlights into High-Speed WiFi Hotspots

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As part of a plan to increase access to the Internet throughout the five boroughs, the city is thinking of making streetlights double as high-speed public Wi-Fi hotspots, according the The Post’s sources.

This is a similar idea to LinkNYC, which are former phone booths around the city that have been converted into free Wi-Fi and cell phone charging stations.

Whether or not the service from the light poles will be free is not clear. It is also too soon to say what the cost of such an endeavor would mean to taxpayers, as the concept is merely in the preplanning stages and officials are still trying to determine if it would even be possible. If it does go through, the service would be part of a bigger push by Mayor Bill de Blasio, for every city business and resident to have “affordable, reliable, high-speed” Internet service by 2025.

This plan, if it happens, would take advantage of one of the city’s most widespread and virtually otherwise untapped resources.

City spokeswoman Kate Blumm said, “The humble light pole is actually one of the city’s most crucial pieces of public infrastructure. We’re continuing to explore how this basic street furniture will be part of our 21st-century city.”

Over 250,000 streetlights exist across the city’s five boroughs, of which approximately 6,400 are already being used or reserved by private companies for telecom equipment that expands cellular and Web service.

In certain Brooklyn and Manhattan neighborhoods, free city Wi-Fi is already installed on many light poles. However, those are only on a small scale and developed independently.

The Post reports, “Streetlights could also be a big moneymaker for the city. Communications companies eagerly put up a few hundred bucks a month to use a single pole already. But proposed federal regulation might hinder the city’s scheme. The Federal Communications Commission has proposed measures that would limit how much control the city has over the streetlights, including the price companies pay to use them. Still, the city believes streetlight Wi-Fi could provide competition for traditional cable and internet providers like Spectrum and Optimum. Ultramodern high-speed 5G service might also be offered from the poles, bypassing companies like AT&T and Verizon. The city particularly hopes to compete with Verizon, said a well-placed source familiar with the project.”

Back in 2013, while serving as a public advocate, de Blasio accused Verizon of not bringing its fiber-optic FiOS service to low-income communities. Verizon was actually sued by the city last year for its failure to fulfill its promise to offer all households FiOs service. The litigations are still ongoing, with Verizon insisting it met the requirements set forth by the city contract by running fiber cable by every residence, it just hasn’t connected the cables to each individual home.

By Rachel Shapiro

 

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