Metro staff will ask the transit agency’s board of directors in April to approve building a new wireless system that would be compatible with all of the wireless carriers’ systems and could make cell phone and wi-fi service available to all Metro riders.
Metro’s current wireless system was built by Verizon and is compatible only with Verizon and Sprint cell phone technology, Chief Information Officer Suzanne Peck said.
AT&T and T-Mobile users are unable to get cell phone signals while riding in Metro tunnels, and Sprint users can only access signals while roaming.
Verizon’s lease on the wireless system does not expire until 2018.
“But their contract doesn’t prevent us from building the next generation one,” Peck said.
Verizon Business’s lease on Metro’s fiber-optic cable, which is up for renewal, does not affect the agency’s wireless network, as The Examiner incorrectly reported Thursday.
If approved by the board, Metro’s new wireless system would be compatible with all of the wireless companies’ technologies and would be available in about four years, Peck said, though service could be available in 20 of the “highest-priority” stations within 18 months.
“Congress is very eager for [this],” she said.
