The TTC is one step closer to providing long-awaited cellphone service in the subway — at least on station platforms.

The timelines are still tentative, but TTC officials estimate that cell service will be available in most stations in about two years.

It’s expected commuters would be able to chat in the stations but not necessarily in the tunnels. Although the signal would probably bleed into downtown tunnels where stations are close together, it’s expected there will be dead zones in suburban sections of the lines where stations are farther apart.

Providing cellphone service is actually a gain for the TTC. On Wednesday, councillors on its board will vote on a deal under which Broadcast Australia Pty Ltd. (BA) will pay the TTC $25 million over 20 years to equip 61 underground stations with cell service.

The contract also gives the TTC $8,000 per station to evaluate what needs to be done to provide service in that location.

The TTC plans to create a project manager position to oversee the cellphone system installation. The first step will be, as soon as possible, equipping two stations as prototypes, said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

Using those two stations, the company has to prove “their system will not interfere with (the subway’s) radio-based signaling system,” he said.

The contract would give BA a year to establish deals with enough wireless carriers to serve at least 60 per cent of Toronto cell subscribers. That period could be extended another year to allow BA to transfer its rights to another carrier.

The other qualified bidder for the TTC contract was Bell Mobility, which offered to pay $5.49 million for the same rights.

As much as some people might be looking forward to chatting and texting on the subway, others are probably dreading it, said TTC chief customer officer Chris Upfold, who used to work for the London Underground, which also lacks cell service.

“The research we did in London showed that customers were pretty polarized on cellphone coverage — especially voice. People that wanted it really wanted it, and the people that didn’t savoured their few minutes of silence a day and didn’t want to have to listen to someone else,” he said.

From his perspective, one advantage of cell coverage on the TTC will be to provide riders with better access to TTC service updates.

But cell service isn’t at the top of riders’ wish lists, he said. Reliability, clean stations, clean washrooms, more capacity and electronic payments all rank higher.

“The one thing people do say is, they would like to be able to call somebody and say what time they’re arriving,” said Upfold.

New York has been installing cell service in its subway stations.