Three carriers now offering service on Boston's subway
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Dec 27th 2007 3:40PM
posted Dec 27th 2007 3:40PM
It seems that one of the last few cellphone-proof havens in the world is giving in at a fairly brisk pace now, with New York most notably committing to adding phone service in train stations. After a couple of aborted attempts in years past, Boston's T has now signed up to do the same with AT&T lighting up service in four stations this week (Verizon and T-Mobile did the same earlier this month). Though your call's currently going to drop as soon as the train leaves the station, the plan is to eventually blanket tunnels and other stations -- assuming carriers see that customers are using the service and are willing to foot the bill. The transit authority has wisely already put up signs in trains encouraging folks to keep calls quiet and quick, though with any luck, the racket of the trains and the crowds will limit most usage to data and texting anyhow.[Via textually.org and ITBusinessEdge]
Would be amazing when Americans figure out they should only text on trains as part of etiquette like the rest of the world.
Wow, mobile phones in the subway! What will Boston and New York innovate next? Could using public restrooms instead of doorways be the next trend?
yea..DC Metro has had this, but has a anti-competitive contract so only Verizon Wireless can provide service. its absurd.
It's nice to know that I'm paying for that out here in the midwest where we still have 1X data service and probably won't be upgraded to EVDO until 2009!
The whole of China still only has 1x. Rather sad, is it not? On the plus side we have full service in the subway.
I can't wait for this. I spend at least 3 hours a day commuting underground, 99% of the time with nothing particularly to do. I download my RSS feeds beforehand if I can, but I could be so much more productive, or at least entertained, with wireless service. Even if the signal only reaches stations, that's usually where I'm most going out of my mind with boredom, wondering when the train is going to come. And then of course it would allow you to text people if your train is delayed and you're going to be late.
Personally I'd prefer it be just high-speed data and SMS. I agree with NuShrike, people here don't understand that the whole train car doesn't need to hear about what their boyfriend said last night.
why did you use a photo of the NYC subway for a story on the Boston subway?
Its an insult to all of us who pronounce any -ar sounds (car, harbor, park, etc) with an "r" instead of "ah".
if people have international plans, will the end up paying the "Roaming" charges if they are in the tunnel???