NYC paves the way in hyper-connectivity by replacing its outdated phone booths with Wi-Fi pods.

Today NYC unveils an ingenious strategy to bridge the sizable digital divide New York City faces, thanks to a private group of experts in tech and connectivity, CityBridge.

Cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee, pioneered community-centred connectivity through their gigabit-per-second broadband speeds, and now New York have taken heed. Utilising private investment and digital advertising, LinkNYC updates the outdated telephone booths with everything necessary to keep ourselves connected.

The new individual pods replace pay phones and instead offer super-fast, free Wi-Fi, an in-built tablet for web-browsing and mapping, a free-call making application, and a power-only USB port for charging. Intuitively designed, a lack of horizontal flat surfaces prevents a pile-up of litter.

As well as a positive social impact, the project represents a bottom-up response to the desires of urban citizens who are already online, for an environment that facilitates their increasingly hyper-connected lives. The implications for the future of enhanced public connectivity are very exciting, so watch this space...

The first two Wi-Fi stations on Manhattan’s Third Avenue in the East Village will be unveiled today and by the middle of January.