Bids Submitted For NYC Subway Station Cell Phone Network

NEW YORK (AP)--Some of the best-known companies in the world submitted bids Wednesday to wire 277 New York City subway stations for cell phone use.

The bids mark a significant step in a long-running effort to make cell phone service available to the millions of New Yorkers who descend into subway stations every day and lose all ability to talk on their phones.

The 10-year contract calls for the winning bidder to wire the platforms - but not the moving trains. However, the companies were required to discuss how they would expand the network to the tunnels.

Whoever wins the contract will have to make the network available to other carriers, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Tom Kelly said.

Cingular Wireless; Verizon Wireless; T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom and Sprint Nextel teamed up to submit one of the bids, according to Cingular spokesman Clay Owen. Cingular will take the lead on the project if awarded the bid, Owen said.

GE Capital, a unit of General Electric; Time Warner Cable, a unit of Time Warner; Andrew Corp; Transit Technologies and Dianet Communications made up the second team that submitted a bid, according to Dianet President Jeffrey Just.

"This is the right project at the right time for the MTA," Just said. "The financial model is there for the MTA to earn substantial revenue while increasing the safety, security and services to their riders."

American Tower Corp. also was said to be among the bidders, but a message left with the company was not immediately returned.

The fourth and final bid wasn't disclosed. Kelly said the MTA would not reveal the companies until the viability of their bids is documented.

Kelly did not know how long it would take to select a winning bid.

The deadline for entering a bid was Wednesday.

It is not clear if wiring the subways will pay off. Industry experts said it made sense for the companies to form a partnership to share the costs.

"I think everyone recognizes that there is very little money to be made, but they very intelligently approached it from the pool concept to offset costs," said Jonathan Spira, chief analyst at Basex, an IT research firm in New York City.

Spira said the real "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" for the companies was in the wiring of the trains - not in merely making it possible for commuters to talk in the brief time they spend on the platforms.

T-Mobile spokesman Peter Dobrow said in an e-mail that similar partnerships in Seattle and Boston have been successful.

He added that the wiring would be important if there was ever an emergency.

"In New York, we firmly believe that installing wireless solutions throughout the subway system is an important emergency services ... initiative," he wrote.

At least one subway rider advocacy group is taking a wait-and-see approach to the project.

"We thought it was a good first step to wire the stations," said Gene Russianoff, an attorney for Straphangers Campaign. "There is a big difference between the stations and trains."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 19th January 2006