In New York, the lost tourist is never really alone. First, because the big apple never sleeps and there’s always something going on. Second, because the city is starting to roll out the world’s fastest and largest free public Wi-Fi network, called “LinkNYC”. It will be materialized by interactive vouchers (at the locations of the current telephone booths), with two sides covered with large screens.
These will offer a multitude of services to residents and tourists. Starting with “high-speed” internet access (100 times faster than conventional public Wi-Fi, announces the CityBridge consortium which is piloting the project) and the possibility of making free calls to telephone numbers. United States.
The touchscreen fitted to the terminals will display interactive maps and information on the neighborhood’s points of interest, and will allow emergency services to be alerted easily in the event of a problem. It will also be possible to recharge your mobile phone or tablet. Finally, the LinkNYC terminals will broadcast announcements of general interest… but also advertisements, which make it possible to finance the services offered.
10,000 terminals in the coming years
The first LinkNYC stations must be installed before the end of the year. In the long term, 10,000 items of equipment of this type must be deployed in the streets of the city, thanks to a public-private partnership uniting the municipality and companies like Qualcomm. Important point: the city has obtained from its partners that part of the 10,000 terminals be assembled in New York itself.
The project would have the potential to create more than 750 positions dedicated to the installation, maintenance, sale of advertising space and the manufacture of totems. Note that this is not the first ambitious program of this type implemented in New York: the “old-fashioned” telephone booths had been gradually transformed into interactive terminals (with the participation of Cisco) in recent years.
LinkNYC is just one illustration of New York’s proactive approach to smart cities. Moreover, the city is exploring other technological avenues to bring more connectivity to its arteries. The Bigbelly company wants to install its smart connected trash cans there, equipped with solar panels, a multitude of environmental sensors and… Wi-Fi hot-spots. Again, advertising would finance this service offered to residents and tourists. Always with the legitimate fear of the exploitation of personal data and possible invasions of privacy …
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