QUEENS — Free Wi-Fi is coming to downtown Jamaica.
The neighborhood will soon be the first one in Queens to receive multiple high-speed public hotspot kiosks, which will be installed as part of the LinkNYC program, replacing pay phones with Wi-Fi network.
The hotspots in downtown Jamaica will be set up by July as part of the first phase of the initiative which will include about 510 kiosks throughout the city.
So far, the city has identified 29 possible locations in downtown Jamaica for the initial stage, sources said. Twenty-five of the proposed sites will be located along Jamaica Avenue, between 147th and 168th streets. One has been proposed for Sutphin Boulevard, two for Guy Brewer Boulevard and one for Union Hall Street, sources said.
The city would not confirm the number of hotspots nor their locations, because the sites can change due to technical requirements, officials said.
Each kiosk will provide Internet access in a 150-foot radius, as well as an array of free services, including cell phone charging and free domestic phone calls to anywhere in the U.S., according to the city.
Rhonda Binda, head of the Jamaica Center Business Improvement District, said that she was very excited about the potential that the program brings to Jamaica.
She said she hopes that in the future, the BID could utilize it by launching an app, which would allow local stores to engage shoppers who could possibly be able to compare prices at various shops or look for bargains along Jamaica Avenue, one of the main commercial corridors in the neighborhood.
She also said that the program would "rejuvenate the community" and "help develop digital literacy" by providing free Internet access to people who don’t have connectivity at home.
"It gives the community global access within their reach," she said.
The city has just installed several first kiosks on Third Avenue in Manhattan which are currently in a testing phase, according to the Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications.
The agency said it expects the Wi-Fi to be turned on at those kiosks for public use around mid-January.
Other areas slated to be covered in the first phase of the program will include South Bronx, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, St. George in Staten Island as well as 3rd Avenue and 8th Avenue above 14th Street in Manhattan, the city said.
Most of the kiosks, which are being installed by CityBridge LLC, will provide connectivity speeds of 1,000 megabytes per second, the city said.
The city plans to install 4,550 kiosks across the city by July 2019, and 7,500 by July 2023.
