Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced last week the city’s plans for LinkNWK, a communications network of sidewalk kiosks that will provide residents and visitors of Newark with free gigabit Wi-Fi, mobile device charging, free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S., access to municipal services, maps and directions, and real-time local information on city streets. There will be no cost to taxpayers or users as it is supported through advertising on the Link kiosk displays.
LinkNWK is planning to start with 45 kiosks installed throughout Newark’s busiest areas, in places such as Newark Penn Station, the Prudential Center, Broad Street, Market Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Irvine Turner Boulevard. Kiosks will be placed in every one of Newark’s five wards, including neighborhood corridors like Clinton Avenue, Ferry Street, South Orange Avenue, and Bloomfield Avenue.
Intersection, the leading smart cities technology and media company behind LinkNWK, has already deployed over 1,600 kiosks in New York City. Other cities that have implemented this program are London and Philadelphia. Since launching in 2016, more than 3.6 million people have registered to use Link’s services.