Taking cues from free digital services, like email and social media, which are paid for by advertising, LinkNYC uses a similar model to solve critical urban challenges, while balancing innovation with equity. This approach can become a model for tackling issues in cities around the globe. LinkNYC will be the largest and fastest free public Wi-Fi network in the world, providing speeds that are 100 times faster than average public Wi-Fi and the LTE signal on mobile phones in the U.S. Experts believe this will drive home internet service and mobile data providers to increase speeds and decrease prices as millions of people gain readily available access to speeds they’ve never experienced before for free. Speed has also been tied to innovation. While the first broadband speeds brought us YouTube, and high-speed broadband enabled streaming services like Netflix, gigabit could unlock the next generation of the internet.

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.

Within the first 3 months of deployment, the LinkNYC Wi-Fi network saw over 5,000 new users a week and was used more than 1 million times to download over 7 terabytes of data. The project has created hundreds of jobs and over $72 million dollars in economic activity in New York City since its inception. LinkNYC’s social media feeds are filled with New Yorkers and visitors sharing photos of their speed tests and how they use Links. (We’ve seen quite a few Link dance parties!) More than 1,000 news stories have been written about LinkNYC, generating more than 2.5 billion media impressions. Meanwhile, some of the world’s biggest brands, including MillerCoors, Delta and Netflix, launched LinkNYC’s advertising platform, leveraging its flexibility and intelligence while helping finance a valuable public service.

Nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. With immense stress on resources, cities will need to improve quality of life without burdening taxpayers. In New York City, LinkNYC is a first-of-its-kind communications network that’s replacing over 7,500 payphones with kiosks that offer free gigabit Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, Internet access, and digital services. The updated infrastructure and services are free because they're paid for with advertising. With its citywide scale, modularity, and viable business model, LinkNYC creates an urban platform that delivers and funds modern services in a 21st century city.

As New Yorkers ourselves, we built a product we’d want to use in our everyday lives. That meant creating a seamless and ad-free Wi-Fi experience to start. To further ensure that LinkNYC serves a city as large and diverse as New York, we conducted user research with people that represented the City’s range of needs, including city employees, the elderly, business owners, digital natives, and underserved communities. Through iterative concepting and rough prototypes, we learned how specific proposed features resonated, or didn’t, with each test group, informing LinkNYC’s design and features. As the rollout continues, we’ll use anonymized, aggregate data of how people interact with Links to develop insights on how to improve the experience. Modular hardware and an Android operating system also allow us to update LinkNYC and ensure it remains useful for users, the City, and advertising partners for years to come.

Near ubiquitous mobile phone adoption had left New York City’s streetscape strewn with thousands of unused public payphones. Meanwhile, one in four New Yorkers lack access to high-speed Internet. That’s millions of people who can’t search for a job, do homework or manage their health care without going to a library or coffee shop. In 2014, New York City issued a Request for Proposal that called on the technology and media community to reimagine the City’s obsolete payphone infrastructure to bring free public Wi-Fi to the streets of New York and help bridge this digital divide. The new service would need to meet the needs of the largest, most diverse and pedestrian-focused city in the U.S., with 8.5 million residents and nearly 60 million annual tourists. In return, the private partners and the City of New York would share the advertising revenue generated from the new Wi-Fi kiosks.