Toronto Mayor John Tory announced Wednesday that some riders will be able to use their cellphones while underground on the TTC.
“Starting today Wind Mobile customers will be connected while underground,” Tory said at a press conference at St. George subway station on Wednesday.
Cell service will be available on TTC platforms throughout all areas of St. George, Bay and Bloor-Yonge stations. Additional stations downtown on Line 1, between Yonge-Bloor and Spadina Stations, have been equipped with the infrastructure and will be ready for customers by the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games.
Tory says this move will help “give customers a better TTC experience.”
“This is about putting Toronto residents first and modernizing the way the city and its partners deliver services,” Tory said.
The TTC says BAI Canada, a company that specializes in underground communication networks, has “built a shared Wi-Fi and cellular infrastructure that allows any wireless carrier to sign on and provide underground cellular service to their customers.”
Wind Mobile is currently the only company to provide cellular services underground but Tory says that the competition will “cause the other companies to be here.”
The addition of cellular service comes over a year after the TTC introduced WiFi at select TTC subway stations.
“Cities like Hong Kong and Singapore have been providing complete underground cell coverage for years,” Tory said, “Our role shouldn’t be to fight the future, but to be the future.”
Once all of the TTC stations are equipped with the cellular service, there are future plans to build the infrastructure in the tunnels, according to TTC Chair Josh Colle.
