[URBAN NOTE] "TTC ready to let subway riders talk and text"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski reports on a development that's about time. While I understand the complaints of many of the people quoted in the article saying that they don't want to hear other people's conversations on public transit, I don't think those complaints are very valid: subway cars are not private spaces.

The TTC is one step closer to providing long-awaited cellphone service in the subway — at least on station platforms.

The timelines are still tentative, but TTC officials estimate that cell service will be available in most stations in about two years.

It’s expected commuters would be able to chat in the stations but not necessarily in the tunnels. Although the signal would probably bleed into downtown tunnels where stations are close together, it’s expected there will be dead zones in suburban sections of the lines where stations are farther apart.

Providing cellphone service is actually a gain for the TTC. On Wednesday, councillors on its board will vote on a deal under which Broadcast Australia Pty Ltd. (BA) will pay the TTC $25 million over 20 years to equip 61 underground stations with cell service.

[. . .]

The contract would give BA a year to establish deals with enough wireless carriers to serve at least 60 per cent of Toronto cell subscribers. That period could be extended another year to allow BA to transfer its rights to another carrier.