NEW YORK CITY — Straphangers wanting cell service in subway tunnels could be in for a delay that's lengthy even by MTA's standards: 10 years.

MTA board members will vote Wednesday on a deal to expand cell service into tunnels and set up free Wi-fi at above-ground stations.

But the deal with Transit Wireless comes with a build period of up to 10 years, meaning it'll be a while before passengers can stop saying, "Can you hear me now?"

Transit Wireless already brought service into stations — itself an ambitious project, said Fredericka Cuenca, the MTA's deputy chief development officer for planning, during a Monday meeting. But she acknowledged it "needs to be improved."

"People today they want to be able to send emails, or texts, or look at their news feed or do whatever through their entire trip and not have their connection phase in and out as they're going through the tunnels from one station to another," she said.

Transit Wireless already brought service into stations — itself an ambitious project, Cuenca said. But she acknowledged it "needs to be improved."

The project will require hundreds of miles of fiber optic cable running along tracks in order to provide cell service, and more, she said.

The company will require $600 million in private capital and, importantly, be built at no cost to MTA, she said. The transit agency will share revenue with Transit Wireless, she said.

"The Project results in over $1 Billion in benefit for the MTA and its customers over the life of the agreement," MTA meeting documents state.

The no-cost project came as welcome news to board members, who earlier during the Monday meeting heard reports that ridership likely won't return to pre-pandemic levels for years to come — a potential revenue loss that could lead to tough decisions.

The falling ridership numbers stand at roughly 60 percent what they were pre-pandemic, data shows.

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