14 DAY TRIAL // New York City’s largely unused phone booths may soon serve a greater purpose, as a bunch of companies, including Google, are trying to find a way to turn them into Wi-Fi hot spots.
According to Bloomberg, discussions started back in May, when Google’s representatives joined Samsung, Time Warner Cable, Cisco, and Verizon to a private meeting where the issue was being discussed.
Google has been putting in an effort to increase its presence in the Internet providing area. The company is already providing Wi-Fi spots in several cities, including in its own back yard in Mountain View.
Furthermore, Google’s Fiber broadband project has lit a fire under other Internet service providers, whose speeds are nowhere near what the Internet giant is offering. The company’s Loon Project is yet another example of how Google is trying to bring Wi-Fi connections to everyone in the world, while rumor has it that the next step is going to be putting wireless providing satellites into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Other companies too are expected to provide plans to make this New York City project a reality. In fact, it looks like there are about 50 companies in total that are expected to make a proposal on the topic, but there are only a handful that stand out and are quite likely to win over the rest, with Google at the top of the list.
The project from the New York City Hall comes from 2012, when Michael Bloomberg was Mayor. He was looking for a way to repurpose over 7,300 phone booths, but up until now things have moved slowly, most likely tied up in bureaucratic issues.
“The widespread adoption of mobile devices reduces the overall need for public telephones, yet not everyone owns a mobile phone, and not everyone who owns one has connectivity at all times,” reads a document posted on the NYC’s website regarding the project.
This is an ambitious program that could set a trend across America if successful. Considering that everyone enjoys free Internet access, especially when out and about when mobile data speeds aren’t always up to par, this project will likely be a hit.
Of course, it will take quite a bit of time before we know for certain. Setting up the infrastructure will take a while as well, while the testing period will further extend the entire process.
Hopefully, the NYC officials won’t take forever to decide on a project.