After reading Who Runs the Subway's Wireless Network: Transit Wireless and Boldyn Explained, you asked “Why a "neutral host" instead of individual carriers?”
Why the MTA Chose a Neutral-Host Model for Underground Coverage
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One shared infrastructure serves all carriers, reducing redundancy, lowering costs, and enabling easier upgrades and maintenance.
Why the MTA Chose a Neutral-Host Model for Underground Coverage
Imagine if AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile each had to build their own wires, antennas, and cables throughout every subway tunnel. That would be chaos: duplicate gear crammed into tunnels, conflicting maintenance schedules, and huge cost inefficiencies. That's where the neutral host idea comes in.
In a neutral-host model, one company builds and runs the shared infrastructure (fiber, antennas, repeaters) and then lets all carriers lease access to that same hardware. No one has to replicate the same backbone over and over. Boldyn calls this their core business.
This setup brings several benefits:
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Lower upfront cost & reduced redundancy: Instead of three overlapping systems, you have one system to build and maintain. That saves space, capital, and headaches.
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Better consistency & easier upgrades: When tech changes (5G, 6G, new bands), you only upgrade one system. Every carrier taps into improvements immediately.
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Fair access & competition: If each carrier built its own, smaller ones or regional operators might get squeezed out. Neutral hosting levels the playing field.
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Easier coordination & maintenance: You don't have three different crews fighting over tunnel access. One operator handles scheduling, repairs, upgrades. It's cleaner.
Boldyn already leverages this model. On the 42nd Street Shuttle, customers of Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all use Boldyn's shared infrastructure.
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Published October 9, 2025
Mark Okafor is a contributor for Tunnel Vision.
This article is part of the Connectivity series.