Limited Wi-Fi Hotspots Coming To Parks Of Southern Brooklyn

The city expanded the availability of Wi-Fi to parks across Southern Brooklyn in a deal made with the region’s top cable providers. Business Week is reporting that a form of free Wi-Fi is coming to places like Manhattan Beach, Marine Park and Steeplechase Park in Coney Island.

The city’s plan adds Wi-Fi to 32 parks in all, boosting the total amount of hotspots in Brooklyn to 14. Business Week described the specifics of the deal:

The service is part of the city’s 2011 franchise agreement with New York-based Time Warner Cable, the second-largest U.S. cable provider, and Bethpage, New York-based Cablevision, the fifth largest. As part of the contract, the companies agreed to maintain the city’s WiFi system through 2020 in parks and public spaces, mostly outside Manhattan. The cable providers created a $10 million fund to pay for it, according to the city.

Soon enough, people with laptops, smart phones and other specialized mobile devices will be able to catch a free signal in five locations at Gravesend Park, six locations in Marine Park, 15 locations in Manhattan Beach Park and one location in Steeplechase Park. The access to to the Wi-Fi is partially dependent on cable service the user has. For instance, only Cablevision customers can get full free access to any of the Wi-Fi spots in Southern Brooklyn parks. If you aren’t a Cablevision customer, you can only use the service three times in a 30 day span for only 10 minutes at a time.

Across the city, certain select locations will have full free Wi-Fi, regardless of cable service affiliation, like in Prospect Park, McCarren Park and many places in Manhattan including Central Park. If people aren’t Cablevision customers, they can purchase WiFi access for 99 cents a day per device.

For more information on the availability of free hotspot coverage you can visit the Parks Department website by clicking here.