Our ambition was to build a product people want to use every day -- a platform that transforms how we communicate with and connect to our world, in time becoming part of the fabric of our everyday lives. Taking cues from free digital services like email and social media, which are paid for by advertising, LinkNYC uses a similar model to address critical urban challenges like disparate digital access and surging data consumption. LinkNYC replaces New York’s obsolete payphones with thousands of kiosks that provide free services like high-speed Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and wayfinding. Comprised of 12,000 location- and context-aware digital screens at scale, LinkNYC creates an intelligent advertising platform that turns a moonshot into a business model: by funding a public utility, providing dynamic opportunities for brands to reach customers, and supplying a new revenue stream for the City to fund public services.

Launched in January 2016, LinkNYC will be the largest and fastest free public communications network in the world before it’s completed in 2023. Installation of at least 7,500 kiosks will bring free high-speed Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a touchscreen for Internet browsing and digital services to neighborhoods across all five boroughs of New York City. By replacing obsolete payphone infrastructure with hundreds of miles of new gigabit fiber optic cable, LinkNYC creates a modern connectivity backbone that will blanket the City in high-speed public Wi-Fi and digital touchpoints. LinkNYC also offers a critical layer of protection to personal data with end-to-end encryption and a user-first privacy policy, in which no personal data will be sold or shared. LinkNYC is currently in beta, giving New Yorkers an opportunity to try out features, provide feedback, and create the City’s future sidewalk experience.

Around the world, there’s a disconnect between obsolete infrastructure, increasing populations, and changing citizen expectations. Through a groundbreaking public-private partnership, LinkNYC modernizes payphone infrastructure to create a five borough urban communications platform that will adapt as technology and needs evolve. The $200 million capital expense comes at zero cost to taxpayers because it’s paid for by advertising on LinkNYC’s network of 12,000 digital screens. By providing city-wide connectivity and services, LinkNYC brings Internet access to each street corner, helping residents stay connected and cut costs on their data plans. Since the project commenced, the City has realized hundreds of new jobs and millions in economic activity. Over the next 12 years, LinkNYC will generate more than $500 million in revenue for the City to fund other public services. This product and approach to urban infrastructure and public service has set a new standard for cities around the world.