Eighteen companies, including Cablevision and Verizon Wireless, are seeking to offer wireless Internet service throughout the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad systems, reports Newsday. accesskey=”
“New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority put out an Request for Information this July (pdf), to provide free WiFi on its rail system. Other companies that responded include AT&T and Sprint. Neither Comcast or Time Warner Cable submitted proposals to the MTA, since the commuter trains are not in their footprints.
Cablevision said it could provide the service “at no capital cost to the MTA.” Cablevision’s Optimum Wi-Fi network, launched last September, already covers more than 96 percent of LIRR and Metro-North station platforms. Optimum Online customers can use it for free. Under its proposal, riders who are Optimum Online customers could use the service for free, but those who are not would be charged.
Kevin Curran, senior VP of Cablevision’s wireless development, said its proposal could provide the MTA with new revenue opportunities at no cost, and that about half of the Metro North and Long Island Railroad riders are already Cablevision customers.
In July, Cablevision, Newsday’s parent company, was awarded a contract to provide free wireless Internet access — even to nonsubscribers– at MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma in the terminal and courtesy parking lot.
Since July, Verizon Wireless has offered access to thousands of Wi-Fi hot spots for free to some of its high-speed Internet and FiOS customers. Hot spots nationwide include public locations, airports, coffee shops and retailers.
In related news, the Transportation Security Administration has launched a free, cell phone-based boarding pass system at San Francisco International Airport. The paperless boarding pass system, now available at 30 U.S. airports, allows passengers to download their ticket onto their cell phone after booking a flight. At the terminal entrance, TSA officers scan the passenger’s cell phone or PDA at a small kiosk, which validates a two-dimensional, tamper-proof bar code included on the traveler’s paperless ticket. The passenger then shows a government-issued ID card to the TSA agent to gain entrance to the boarding area.
Related Dailywireless stories include; American Airlines & Southwest: Inflight Wi-Fi Fleetwide, Webinar on Wireless Broadband on Public Transport, City of Portland to Get Clear, SF Gets Solar Wi-Fi Bus Shelters, California Announces RFQ for TrainFi.
