Twenty more city parks will soon feature free wireless Internet access as part of a five-year contract with AT&T announced Thursday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled the plan at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem alongside AT&T’s chairman and chief executive, Randall Stephenson.

Mr. Bloomberg said he hoped the increased availability of free Internet access would help to close the “digital divide” that limits opportunities for low-income families.

Previous attempts to install Wi-Fi in parks have fallen short, but Mr. Stephenson said that technology has improved in recent years, allowing for faster and more reliable connections. He could not estimate the cost of the project.

The free service began Thursday at Battery Bosque in Battery Park, the north-end playground in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and around the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park.

Twenty-three Wi-Fi zones will be added at another 17 parks this summer: Bronx River Park and Devoe Park in the Bronx; Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fort Greene Park, Herbert Von King Park, McCarren Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn; Central Park (multiple locations), the High Line, Holcombe Rucker Park, Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan; Astoria Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park and MacDonald Park in Queens, and Clove Lake Park and South Beach on Staten Island.

(Source: Crains NY)