Verizon to get on board NYC subways

Verizon is ramping up network coverage for its subscribers who ride the New York City subways.

The carrier announced on Tuesday that it will start installing the necessary network gear over the next several weeks with the goal of providing wireless access in 36 NYC subway stations later this year. Once the service is up and running, Verizon subscribers will be able to tap into 3G and 4G voice and data.

The move comes courtesy of an agreement between Verizon and Transit Wireless, which runs a wireless network across the 36 subway stops in midtown Manhattan and Chelsea. AT&T and T-Mobile USA are already on the network, while Boingo Wireless provides the Wi-Fi component. Sprint also is gearing up to hop onto the service.

Verizon will join Transit Wireless in the next phase of the wireless rollout. Slated for completion in early 2014, Phase 2 will add coverage to 40 more stations, including Grand Central Station, 34th Street Herald Square, and Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan and several stops throughout Queens.

"We are extremely pleased to gain Verizon's participation in our wireless network in the New York City subway system, facilitating high-quality voice and data services in the underground," Transit Wireless CEO William Bayne Jr. said in a statement. "We have now secured partnerships with all four major wireless carriers to bring the vast majority of New Yorkers, visitors, government agency personnel, transit employees, contractors, and first responders the ability to be connected in the stations we've constructed -- a real milestone."