ZenFi Expands LinkNYC Plans

The LinkNYC project is entering a new phase, and ZenFi will be rolling out new infrastructure to support it. The company revealed a few details about those expansion plans today as it takes aim at the parts of New York City that don’t have the connectivity most probably think they do.

The LinkNYC network is operated by CityBridge via ZenFi’s fiber and street furniture, assembling a system of public WiFi access points around the city. Over the past year ZenFi has shouldered more weight for the project while finding ways to leverage that infrastructure for its nextgen wireless backhaul needs as well.

This year the project is opening Gigabit centers around the city, with one opening in Harlem in February. The city of New York, Intersection, ZenFi Networks, CityBridge, LinkNYC, Silicon Harlem and the C-Better Foundation teamed up to create the facility, which enables free public WiFi alongside digital literacy training, free access to laptops and workstations, and other services to local residents.

More such Gigabit Centers are in the works, hoping to help ‘bridge the digital divide’ for the 40% of households in the city that don’t have modern connectivity, whether wired or wireless.  The partners are looking at sites in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, among others.

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Categories: Metro fiber · Wireless