NYC bringing wireless Internet to pay phone kiosks - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

NYC bringing wireless Internet to pay phone kiosks

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NEW YORK -

New Yorkers have been making fewer and fewer calls on the city's 12,000 pay phones, yet the kiosks should be getting more use soon. But for a different reason.

The city is starting a pilot program that has converted 10 kiosks in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens into free Wi-Fi Internet hotspots. The plan is to expand the program to all 12,000 pay phones in the city.

The pay phones remain, but a router is installed at each kiosk. The Internet signal extends a couple of hundred feet.

Users simply approach the kiosk with an Internet device and log on. No password is needed. They can connect for as long as they need, 24 hours a day.

Cellphones have been driving down pay phone use for years, but officials say there were 25 million pay phone calls made in New York City last year.

(Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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