Citywide wireless in NYC soon!

You'd think that NYC would have one of the best cell networks in the country. But walking in NYC can sometimes be like walking at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, signals get blocked. There are dead spots all over the city. But...

New York City is on the verge of going fully wireless, according to a deal being finalised this month between authorities and a group of six technology companies.

In exchange for being able to mount up to 18,000 new lamp post-based antennas, to strengthen coverage around the five boroughs, the companies will pay the city government around $25m each year.

Somehow the BBC also found two of the three people in the city who are more concerned about the radiation from the antennas than better reception. Freakin' hippies. Personally, I'm more concerned with how much it is going to cost me to have WiFi access anywhere in the city, Bryant Park style.

There is already one patch of midtown Manhattan that provides an ideal glimpse of what a more wireless-friendly New York will be like. Bryant Park has been providing a free service to any laptop user who wants access for many months now. People come from all over the city to log-on and work in the sunshine, and naturally, everyone I spoke to welcomed the idea of extending this kind of coverage.

We certainly do welcome it. Cell phone and WiFi users alike (which is pretty much all of us) will soon have reason to rejoice!

BBC article here.