By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 13, 2008

Metro is taking the first step toward building a new wireless system that would let all riders talk on their cellphones while riding the subway after years of customer complaints that only Verizon users can get reception underground.

Metro officials are seeking preliminary approval today from a board committee to solicit proposals from firms to design, build and operate a wireless network that would provide riders with cellphone and broadband services in all 47 underground stations and 50 miles of tunnels, and allow the transit agency's police and rail personnel to communicate.

The network also would also support Metro's plan, announced last month, to provide real-time information and advertising on flat-panel monitors in rail cars, train stations and buses.

"When this comprehensive system is in place, any cellphone can be used aboveground and in the tunnels, and this network can be used by all our operational employees as well," said Suzanne Peck, Metro's information technology chief.

But it would be several years before everyone could phone home.

If the full Metro board approves the plan later this month, officials want to request proposals in April and award a contract in the fall. The winning bidder would be required to build a wireless network at no cost to Metro and guarantee the agency a minimum amount of revenue each year. It would take 18 months to four years after the contract is awarded before such a system would be in place, Peck said.

The reason has to do with the relatively small window when work can take place in tunnels. Much of the maintenance and repair of Metro's aging infrastructure occurs after the rail system is closed, when trains are not running. Installing a new wireless network, including cable installation in tunnels, would have to occur then.

Priority would be given to wiring the underground stations that have the highest usage, mostly in the downtown core, Peck said.

Members of Congress have sought to increase service for other cellphone carriers in at least the 20 busiest stations as part of talks about more federal funding for Metro.

In 1993, Metro agreed to allow Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, which later became Verizon Wireless, to build and own the system now in use. In exchange, Verizon has been paying the transit agency annual usage fees. Verizon also invested $7.6 million in building a public safety radio communications system for Metro. But the wireless system is compatible only with Verizon cellphones and Sprint phones that roam onto the network, Metro officials said. T-Mobile and AT&T phones do not have access, not even to call 911.

Metro also has been criticized for failing to match other transit agencies in generating a potentially lucrative source of revenue for the cash-strapped authority. Metro received $46,000 in revenue from Verizon in 2005, $33,000 in 2006 and $28,000 in 2007, Peck said. Verizon told Metro the declining revenue was based on lower use, she said.

By comparison, Boston transit officials agreed to a deal in 2005 with a company to wire four downtown stations and tunnels that guarantees at least $4 million over 15 years. In fiscal 2007, the first year it received use fees, Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority received $200,000, agency spokesman Joe Pesaturo said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York reached an agreement last fall for all 277 underground stations to be wired for cellphone use. The company awarded the contract will pay New York City Transit a minimum of $46.8 million over 10 years, and pay the full cost of building the wireless network, estimated at $150 million to $200 million. Under the deal, the cellphone network would start in six downtown Manhattan stations next year, according to a spokesman for the company, Transit Wireless.

By comparison, Peck said Metro's annual revenue from a new contract with a wireless provider could range from $200,000 to $2 million. New York can earn more revenue because its system is larger, with an average weekday ridership of more than 5 million, compared with about 730,000 on Metro, Peck said.

Metro's contract with Verizon is not exclusive, and agency officials have sought proposals from other providers for networks that would give access to all cellphone users. One proposal was rejected, Peck said, because it did not provide for a single comprehensive network.

Having one comprehensive wireless network would solve some of Metro's other communications problems. The wireless network would be able to operate with any radio frequency, including the troubled $73 million radio system that Metro bought from Motorola. The system was bought eight years ago and was supposed to allow Metro Transit Police and train operators to communicate with central control but is still not fully operational in the underground stations and tunnels.

Whether riders want to hear all those cellphone conversations is another matter. In New York, officials chose not to wire subway tunnels out of consideration for riders who do not want to hear other people's conversations.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.