LinkNYC Wi-Fi Network

A NYCRC-managed entity provided a $157.5 million loan to help fund the construction of New York City’s street-level, high-speed public Wi-Fi network called LinkNYC.

This first-of-its-kind communications system has replaced the thousands of public pay phones across the city. LinkNYC is the world’s largest and fastest free public Wi-Fi network. Each Link kiosk provides free superfast Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, access to social services, maps, directions, and displays content such as real-time weather, transit info, public art, and local information. LinkNYC has had over 18 million Wi-Fi users and more than 3.5 billion Wi-Fi sessions since its launch. The city-wide network has also connected more than 30 million free phone calls.

The LinkNYC project is the result of a public-private partnership between the New York City Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation, the City of New York Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and CityBridge, a joint venture led by Intersection Media and Boldyn Networks.

“LinkNYC is replacing the City’s antiquated pay phones with a state-of-the-art communications network … That is why we have launched LinkNYC, which is well on its way to becoming the largest, fastest, free municipal Wi-Fi system in the world. This will help cement our place as a global leader in technology, innovation, and equity.”
– Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio