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.

LinkNYC will be the largest and fastest free public communications network in the world, with more than 7,500 kiosks providing free high-speed Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a touchscreen Android interface that will add new applications over time. The LinkNYC network is being built with hundreds of miles of new gigabit fiber, providing speeds more than 100 times faster than average public Wi-Fi and mobile 4G. It also offers a critical layer of protection with end-to-end encryption using Hotspot 2.0. Each kiosk has two 55” digital screens that bring online advertising and real-time public service announcements to the streetscape, allowing for more impactful messaging and engagement. Integrated beacons enable an array of useful opt-in applications, such as improved navigation services for people with disabilities. Currently, LinkNYC is in beta, giving New Yorkers an opportunity to try out features, provide feedback, and create the 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.

Cities around the globe are facing aging communications infrastructure in an era of surging mobile data consumption and citizen expectations. LinkNYC is a first-of-its-kind network that’s bringing connectivity and digital touchpoints to every community and major street corner across New York City. Replacing thousands of payphones, LinkNYC delivers free gigabit Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a platform for civic and commercial applications. Its is the rare urban-scale technology designed for continuous innovation, ensuring user and city needs are met today and for years to come. All of this is funded by advertising on this new, hyperlocal broadcast medium.

Over the years, near ubiquitous mobile phone adoption has left New York City’s streetscape strewn with thousands of unused public payphones. Meanwhile, the United Nations has declared connectivity a basic human right, powering social, economic and educational opportunities. Yet millions of New Yorkers still lack ready access to high speed broadband, effectively priced out of costly home and mobile data plans. With a $200 million private capital investment, LinkNYC replaces outdated payphone infrastructure with a next-generation communications network that provides free high-speed public Wi-Fi and digital services to residents and visitors. LinkNYC comes at no cost to the City or taxpayers because it’s paid for by a context-aware digital advertising platform that will generate over $500 million for the City. LinkNYC creates an ecosystem of connectivity, digital screens, and interactive technologies that provide foster connections between people, brands and the City– both enabling and funding a better urban life.