New York Subway Stations Get the Wi-Fi Hookup

Wi-Fi isn’t a new concept. We’re able to freely roam with Internet access thanks to Wi-Fi in our homes and local shops and we’ve had this freedom for some time now.

Wi-Fi isn’t new, but the places where Wi-Fi is offered is changing fast – subway-train fast.

Wi-Fi comes to New York Subway

Google is bringing Wi-Fi to New York’s underground subway stations.

Google Offers, which is basically Google’s equivalent of Groupon, has teamed up with Boingo Wireless to bring free Wi-Fi to several of the New York subway stations, according to Brian Chen of The New York Times.  Chen also says that Google will be paying for the service up until the second week of September.

Chen reports that Boingo, who is mostly known for providing Wi-Fi in airports, believes that even though Google stops paying for the service Sept. 7, sponsorships will come in to help keep the free Wi-Fi alive, according to a Boingo spokesperson.

Chen also reports that Boingo says its Wi-Fi, fast internet services will be offered in 36 subway stations come December, with that number jumping to 270 stations around 2017.  

Where is the Wi-Fi?

Boingo and Google working to bring Wi-Fi to subway stations in New York is just the latest effort in trying to make it possible to get online not just in your home or at Starbucks, but when you are on the move.

That’s what 4G networks have been trying to do from the get go. CLEAR (highspeedwirelessinternet.com/), who built the nation’s first 4G network, provides wireless Internet everywhere inside its hotspots, which can be the size of an entire city. That means when you are on the go, you can still find an Internet connection: in the car, in the chiropractor’s office or even walking around in the nearest park.

You can get Wi-Fi above ground with a high-speed wireless provider like CLEAR, and if Boingo has its way, below-ground Wi-Fi as well.

The information highway

Getting online when we are on the move has been the focus of Internet companies for the past few years now. We spend a lot of our time traveling – commuting to work in our cars, taking business trips by plane and of course taking the subway train or city bus.

That’s a lot of time spent out of the house, and usually out of the jurisdiction of Wi-Fi service.

Planes have jumped on board and provided Wi-Fi in the sky, 4G networks like CLEAR have provided Wi-Fi on the go above ground and now Boingo and Google are taking Wi-Fi below ground – and for free as long as sponsorships roll in.

The information superhighway of the Internet shouldn’t be limited – and it looks like with efforts like Boingo, Google and CLEAR, it won’t have to be.

James Hartwick

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