LinkNYC Celebrates 10 Years of Free Public Wi-Fi, Serving More Than 20 Million Users

Latest impact report shows LinkNYC delivered more than 171 million free Wi-Fi sessions and over five million free calls in 2025 alone

NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten years after launching as a first-of-its-kind initiative to replace public payphones with free, high-speed digital connectivity, LinkNYC has become an essential part of daily life across New York City. The world's fastest free public Wi-Fi network has now served more than 20 million residents and visitors in all five boroughs and supported over 15,000 free advertising campaigns for more than 3,000 local small businesses and nonprofits since 2016.

"LinkNYC has become a vital part of daily life in New York," said Nick Colvin, CEO of LinkNYC. "Serving more than 20 million users across all five boroughs speaks to both the scale of the network and the rising demand for free, reliable connectivity our neighbors can count on."

LinkNYC's newly released annual impact report also marks the program's tenth anniversary. Since its inception, the network has powered 3.5 billion high-speed Wi-Fi sessions and connected over 35 million free phone calls — all at no charge to users or New York City taxpayers, helping reduce everyday connectivity costs for millions of New Yorkers.

Equitable and affordable digital access remains a core focus of LinkNYC. Today, 55% of New Yorkers use free public Wi-Fi each month; and 57% of all New York City households, 65% of NYCHA housing facilities, and 74% of local shelters are within a five-minute walk of a LinkNYC kiosk. In 2025 alone, LinkNYC welcomed 2.6 million new users and supported over 9.6 million gigabytes of free data. LinkNYC also enabled more than five million free phone calls last year, including tens of thousands to essential services such as 911, 311, 988, and the New York State EBT Helpline — underscoring the network's role as a reliable, no-cost digital safety net. 

Also in 2025, LinkNYC helped 1,300 community-based entrepreneurs and local nonprofits run more than 5,000 free advertising campaigns on LinkNYC screens—worth more than $2.2 million—through LinkLocal, New York City's largest philanthropic digital advertising program.

In commemoration of its tenth anniversary, LinkNYC screens across the city will display creative content celebrating how the network has connected New Yorkers and supported community-based organizations, cultural institutions, and local artists since 2016.

About LinkNYC
LinkNYC is the world's largest and fastest free public Wi-Fi network. Each Link kiosk provides free superfast Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, access to social services, and displays content such as real-time weather, transit info, public art, and local information. The city-wide network has more than 20 million Wi-Fi users and has connected more than 35 million free phone calls. All of LinkNYC's services are completely free to users and taxpayers, provided by CityBridge, a joint venture led by Intersection Media and Boldyn Networks. The second generation offering will deploy thousands of new kiosks, called Link5G, enabled with 5G wireless technology across the city. For more information about LinkNYC or to find a Link near you, visit www.link.nyc.

SOURCE LinkNYC