SEPTA and Comcast Corp. will light up about 70 train stations, including the 69th Street, Olney, and Frankford transit hubs, with free WiFi.
The five-year project - to be announced Tuesday at a news conference at the 69th Street terminal - will enable WiFi for hundreds of thousands of SEPTA commuters and expand Comcast's rapidly growing low-cost wireless network.
Under the program, free WiFi will not be available on the trains themselves.
Comcast - the Internet, cable TV, and entertainment giant - now has 300,000 public WiFi hot spots in Philadelphia and 11 other markets, and intends to boost that number to millions.
The free WiFi will allow SEPTA commuters to access e-mail or the Web while they wait for trains, trolleys, and buses, and broadly expand a project that began with the Market East, Suburban, and 30th Street stations in 2010.
Comcast agreed to provide free WiFi as part of a $1.7 million advertising campaign in SEPTA stations, the transit agency's spokeswoman, Jerri Williams, said Monday. SEPTA will benefit with $1 million, she said, and $700,000 will go to the advertising firm that negotiated the deal, Titan Outdoor L.L.C.
When SEPTA commuters access the free WiFi, they will be greeted by an Xfinity screen. There also will be Comcast/Xfinity signage.
Comcast "wanted to bring WiFi to our riders, but we said it had to be free," Williams said. "What is so special is that [it] will be available at 69th Street and the transit hubs."
Some trolley stops also will have free WiFi, as will stations along the Market-Frankford El and Broad Street Subway. There are 200,000 riders a day on the Market-Frankford Line, 125,000 on the Broad Street Line.
The busiest transit hub is Frankford, followed by Olney and 69th Street. SEPTA says it hopes to have the WiFi access available in the stations over the next two years.
via WiFiNovation | Scoop.it
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