The Toronto Transit Commission (ON) will revisit a plan to wire its subway stations and platforms for cell phone coverage. “This is what the future is,” said TTC chair Adam Giambrone. “It’s about people using their mobile devices to listen to music, watch their programs, conduct communications. If you want to be part of people’s lives as their commuting choice, you have to make it as easy for them as possible.”
TTC looked into wiring its stations two years ago, but potential vendors balked at the requirement to stay out of the tunnel system. TTC still does not want to include tunnels, but the wireless environment has changed in the past two years. Now commuters are more likely to be texting or sending emails than talking, and a brief gap between stations is not considered to be a major issue. The TTC board is expected to ask three bidders to submit proposals for the project; service could be in place in some stations by the middle of 2012. The successful bidder will be required to pay to install and maintain the equipment and to provide service for customers at all 69 stations, regardless of wireless provider. Link to full story in The Globe and Mail.
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