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Read the press release here.

Manhattan Straphangers to get Cellular, WiFi Service Underground in Two Years, MTA Says

By DNAinfo Staff on July 26, 2010 3:42pm

Service will be limited to stations and platforms, and will cut out between stations.
Service will be limited to stations and platforms, and will cut out between stations.
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Flickr/Heath Braden

By Yepoka Yeebo

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN - Straphangers can expect to make calls and surf the net from subway stations within six years, the MTA said on Monday.

A stalled plan to provide Wi-Fi and cellular service to all underground subway stations is back on track, the MTA confirmed.

"The new administration is really focused on fixing all of these tech projects, and things are starting to move," a transit official told the Daily News, referring to recently appointed MTA Chairman Jay Walder.

Transit Wireless had planned to get services running in Manhattan stations within two years of approval, and spread through the outer boroughs over another four years. Transit Wireless would cover construction, and cell phone companies would pay the firm to carry signals, with half of the cash going to the MTA, according to the News.

The firm got approval in September 2007, but the MTA did not think Transit Wireless had secure financing for the plan. The MTA refused to give Transit Wireless the go-ahead until last week, when they got another firm, Broadcast Australia, involved, the News reported.

"Nothing has changed on status of construction, it's ready to go," said Alex Mashinsky, managing director of Governing Dynamics, an investor in the project, told the paper. "It's been in process for over two years now, it's a question of the completion of different pieces of the project."

Service will be limited to stations and platforms, and will cut out between stations.