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1M Users Logged In to LinkNYC Wi-Fi Service in Less Than a Year, City Says

By Alexandra Leon | January 18, 2017 12:00pm
 More than a million people signed up for free Wi-Fi at the city's LinkNYC kiosks, the city announced.
More than a million people signed up for free Wi-Fi at the city's LinkNYC kiosks, the city announced.
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DNAinfo/Camille Bautista

NEW YORK CITY — More than a million people have signed up to use free Wi-Fi service at the city's LinkNYC kiosks since they were rolled out less than a year ago, the city said Wednesday.

As of Jan. 4, 1,040,000 people had signed up to use wireless internet at the controversial kiosks since the service officially launched in February of last year, the mayor’s office said.

The kiosks — which also provide free domestic calls, USB charging ports, maps and a red 911 button — have seen an average of 40,000 new sign-ups and 4 million Wi-Fi sessions per week, according to the city. 

The kiosks used to offer free web browsing, but complaints of people watching pornography and hogging them forced officials to shut off that feature in September

The city’s most popular kiosk is in Herald Square, at 1313 Broadway, clocking in with about 600,000 total Wi-Fi sessions, the mayor’s office said. 

More than 600 kiosks were installed across all five boroughs after the city began replacing telephone booths with them last year. 

“Bringing free Wi-Fi to our sidewalks is an important piece of our efforts to increase internet access for all New Yorkers,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

“It’s no surprise that people are using the LinkNYC program and are happy about the services it provides — ultrafast Wi-Fi, phone calls and more — at no cost to taxpayers.” 

To find your nearest LinkNYC kiosk, click here