AT&T Spreading Free Wi-Fi Zones in NYC and San Francisco
December 28th, 2010 by K. T. Bradford 
AT&T announced today that they will expand their Wi-Fi network coverage in New York City and add a new major hotspot in San Francisco in an attempt to lighten the 3G network’s burden. New York’s Times Square hotzone will extend further north; SF’s Embarcadero Center area will have the service “soon”. This is in addition to the many airports, coffee shops, bookstores and other retail locations with AT&T hotspots.
The idea that this will ease congestion on AT&T’s network seems dubious. Times Square may be well-trafficked — especially this weekend — but all of Manhattan and big chunks of the outer boroughs have the same slow data problems. Just covering more of Times Square is like putting a band-aid over a severed limb.
Still, widening the Wi-Fi coverage in major urban areas is a good goal. Once users are able to go more than a few blocks before losing the signal and having to go back to 3G, we might start to see the benefits. What AT&T really needs is more devices that tap into HSPA+ and to get on the 4G LTE ball like Verizon.
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January 3rd, 2011 at 2:55 pm
I disagree with the necessity to dive right into LTE for AT&T. Although their 3G is bogged down due to the iPhone, LTE isn’t the answer for the lack of capacity all carriers are going to continue to run into.
WiFi is a solid solution to densely packed markets such as NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, etc… It is very expensive to roll out a network like the one Verizon is pursuing. There is no doubt that Verizon is ahead of the game, but they too utilize WiFi with through their Boingo agreements.
If you can ease your most congested areas like NYC, especially with WiFi which is now completely probable, then you are set to save a whole lot of money! Companies like Towerstream Corp. (TWER) are well positioned to relieve these stressed networks. AT&T has figured it out and eventually the public and writers like the one above will realize themselves too.
Eventually it won’t just be a few blocks, but the whole city. Towerstream can cover pretty much all of Manhattan with their WiFi from the tops of the Empire State building down. And can replicate this model in other markets as well.