NYC announces free city-wide Wi-Fi with next-gen pay phones

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New York City might soon have one more reason to never sleep: free public Wi-Fi.

A group of city officials and private business representatives unveiled an ambitious plan for free city-wide Wi-Fi on Monday while displaying sleek new designs for the next generation of pay phones.

The design - which more closely resembles a giant tablet than a landline telephone – will appear on New York City streets in late 2015, pending a final approval next month. The city has tentatively dubbed the units "Links."

SEE ALSO: The high-tech secret hiding in New York City pay phones

The devices will be built and operated by newly-formed business consortium CityBridge and will provide free, public Wi-Fi to New Yorkers with speeds up to 1 gigabit, according to Colin O’Donnell, a founding partner of Control Group, one of CityBridge’s member companies. The pay phones would draw revenue via advertising, with at least $20 million of revenue dedicated back to the city of New York for each of the first five years. Read more...

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