News

Kiosks may spur 5G connectivity in New York City

November 21, 2018

LinkNYC Wi Fi public kiosks in New York City may drive the advent of 5G connectivity as they can serve as foundations for 5G repeaters and small cells.

In fact, the kiosks, as an endpoint, will likely prove immensely valuable for advanced networking capabilities, according to a Light Reading report. Each kiosk is powered by a gigabit fiber connection and that is powerful enough for a 5G small cell.

Link President Jen Hensley, speaking at the recent Future of Cable Business Services event, said her company has been talking about 5G prospects with partners for a few years. Issues such as which entity would control 5G cells are being discussed. The city, she said, will retail design rights on the kiosks in place.

LinkNYC, a collaboration by Qualcomm, QMX Smartscapes and Google, is getting ready to roll out 7,500 kiosks across the five boroughs, according to the report.