NYC's massive Link5G towers aren't actually providing 5G (yet)
NYC's massive Link5G towers aren't actually providing 5G (yet)
Almost all of the towers stand empty, CityBridge officials say, leaving residents without the promised high-speed 5G internet access.
The vast majority of the massive, metallic towers the city commissioned to help low-income neighborhoods access high-speed 5G internet still lack cell signal equipment -- more than two years after hundreds of the structures began sprouting across the five boroughs. Just two of the nearly 200 Link5G towers installed by tech firm CityBridge since 2022 have been fitted with 5G equipment, company officials said. Delayed installations and cooling enthusiasm around 5G technology have discouraged carriers like Verizon from using the towers to build out their networks, experts say. The firm only has an agreement with a single telecommunications carrier to deliver high-speed internet, stymieing its efforts to boost mobile connectivity citywide.
The 32-foot-tall structures, which resemble giant tampon applicators emerging from the sidewalk, offer the same services as the LinkNYC electronic billboards that popped up around the city in 2016. Those were also installed by CityBridge. Both the original Link kiosks and the 5G towers provide free limited-range Wi-Fi, charging outlets and a tablet to connect users to city services. Data shared by the company shows that 16 million people have used the internet at kiosks since 2016, and the attached tablets are used to call for city services thousands of times each month. But unlike the LinkNYC kiosks, each new tower is topped with a 12-foot-tall cylindrical mesh chamber containing five empty shelves reserved for companies like Verizon and T-Mobile to store the equipment they use to transmit high-speed 5G internet service to paying customers.
Emphases mine because of that hilarious but completely spot-on description..
Incredibly ugly. I assume that these are either meant for mmwave or are just some marketing push? Because 5g doesn't require new towers.
Incredibly ugly.
Who cares? I don't understand why people always complain about how cell towers look when they're in the middle of...a concrete and steel city. Oh yea, the tower is SO ugly in how it interrupts your view of the concrete building behind it...
I can understand a cell tower in the middle of the woods or something.
Article doesn't say, but likely. Normally when they're deployed that densely, they're either very low power spot coverage or high frequency which doesn't have much penetration/range.
These look like mmWave towers. We have them in my city, they’re more comparable to streetlights (often installed on top of one) than traditional cell towers. They’re mostly used for home internet rather than cellphones.
How much less obtrusive do you think they can make it?
Here are a few examples, on how to.
One step closer to
being able to freeze all motor functionssocial perfection:
Came here to say this. They give me the creeps.
But they really make the place look nice, right? How do people approve stuff like this?
Oh yea, can't have that tower taking away from the scenery that is the NY metro Railway, or the street light, or the metal storefronts and scaffolding /s
My house may look like shit but that doesn't mean I have to use trash to decorate my garden.
I mean, they don't look terrible, but you can never unsee the comparison.