Is New York’s “Free Wi-Fi Everywhere” Plan Realistic?

Last month the city of New York reïssued its dataset and map of public pay telephone (PPT) locations. The dataset was originally published after Superstorm Sandy, an event which prompted me to resubmit my erstwhile ignored request for release of this data several months earlier. I do not assume I was the only influence in getting that dataset released, but as images of storm-stricken New Yorkers lining up to use payphones became a momentary global fascination the city seemed to recognize the value of making payphone location information public. No other major city or telecom entity has published such a dataset and if I had anything to do with it I shall pat myself on my back.

There seems to be a new interest in the map of New York’s PPT locations, an interest unrelated to superstorms or disaster planning. It is about leveraging what is left of New York’s payphones to provide free Internet to all New Yorkers.

NYC’s Mayor Bill de Blasio recently revived the Bloomberg administration’s plan to revitalize public pay telephones by upgrading or replacing them with information touchscreens and Wi-Fi.

(It is hard to imagine that commercial Internet Service Providers will not get in the way of this plan but that is for another discussion.)

The stated goal: Blanket the city with free wireless Internet for all who have the money and stability needed to purchase and maintain control of devices capable of accessing it.

The city’s plan leaves this payphonista scratching his head — surprisingly hard to do as I am still patting myself on the back.

The map of PPT locations is being looked at by some as a blueprint of sorts for how free Wi-Fi and other interactive services might be distributed.

The map creates an intriguing visual, but as a representation of reality it is a wrinkle in time. The map’s accuracy has improved since its first release, in which countless phantom payphones removed years earlier still appeared, but it remains plagued by inaccurate representations of where to find PPTs in this town. Many phones removed months and even years ago still appear on the map, while countless others currently present and functioning do not.

To be fair, the map only attempts to locate outdoor payphones owned and operated by companies franchised by the city. On account of that we get no indication of where to find phones in subway stations, bus terminals, or airports, where Pacific Telemanagement Services (PTS) and G-TEL maintain separate contracts with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and the Port Authority. PTS also provides indoor payphones for businesses such as Broadway theatres, concert hall venues, public libraries, pubs and restaurants, etc. None of these indoor phones appear on the city’s PPT map.

Payphones operated by smaller companies (American Payphone, East Harlem Payphones, etc.) are only haphazardly represented on this map, though these companies are legitimately franchised and their payphones stand outside at building lines or curbside today, fully functional.

Given its new relevance the PPT map creates a conspicuously false sense of how much Wi-Fi coverage is possible solely through leveraging today’s public telephone network. Many areas of New York have no public telephones for over a mile in any direction, far beyond the reach of Wi-Fi antennæ. Unless the city insists upon the reïnstallation of some of the thousands of payphones that have been removed over the last 36 months (fine with me by the way), or unless someone plans to install Wi-Fi repeaters all over the place (technically unfeasible), then this plan would require a significant amount of infrastructure modernization (and cash cash money) to meet its promise.

Indeed, the reïnstallation of payphones (or some form of 2-way public communications device) to isolated spots in New York might behoove the city in the interest of public safety, and in making anonymous 911 calls available to all.

As press-release talk of revitalizing New York City’s payphones automagically populate the blogosphere this might be a good time to reëvaluate the wisdom of leaving large segments of the city with no access to public telephones solely because said phones were unprofitable.

In years past New York City maintained a right to insist that Verizon place public phones at certain locations in the interest of public safety. It is unclear if the city ever invoked that privilege, or if the companies which acquired Verizon’s payphone assets would be expected to comply with such fiats.

New York City cannot deliver free Wi-Fi to every citizen or even every neighborhood solely by leveraging existing payphones. There are not enough payphones for that to work, the city’s map be damned.

This could, however, inspire the revitalization of another resource that is truly abundant, truly everywhere, and (unlike payphones) truly useless.

I refer to the red emergency call boxes standing at attention every 2 or 3 city blocks and along highways and major roads.

Other cities managed to rid themselves of these technological dinosaurs but New York must spend untold millions of dollars each year maintaining call boxes so as to comply with the American With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The city’s payphone revitalization initiative should cost taxpayers nothing, but New Yorkers pay the tab for call boxes on account of one judge’s ruling that no acceptable alternative for enabling handicapped citizens to report fires and emergencies had been presented in the endless litigation underlining this matter.

Read about the case here.

Emergency call boxes represent a financial waste and æsthetic blight on city streets. Nevertheless these archaic communication posts are there, they are everywhere, and on account of one judge’s ruling they are not going away. Why not turn this money-draining program into something useful? Upgrade call boxes with Wi-Fi hotspots and/or repeaters, and maybe even throw some kind of public telephone into boxes located in isolated parts of the city where no other form of 2-way emergency communication exists. This would buttress the city’s compliance with the ADA and it could even improve public safety.

Wi-Fi dead zones would abound if leveraging call boxes and payphones as Wi-Fi hotspots actually came to pass. Depending on their location some lucky New Yorkers would get free Internet right inside their house or apartment, while most would have to join a new league of outdoor Wi-Fi loiterers.

Options for expanding coverage might include placing antennæ atop streetlamps, crosswalk signals, and traffic lights. Such locations would keep antennæ reasonably safe from vandalism, and should spread Wi-Fi signal more equitably than from forehead-level payphones and call boxes on account of being located above street level.

Will Mayor de Blasio’s well-received plan for Internet ubiquity throughout the 5 boroughs come to pass? Or will it mostly benefit densely populated areas? I lean toward the latter. If nothing whatsoever comes of this I shall be unsurprised.