Cablevision to expand Wi-Fi service on Long Island

By James Bernstein | james.bernstein@newsday.com

10:00 AM EDT, May 9, 2008

Cablevision Systems Corp. plans to dramatically expand its fledgling Wi-Fi service beyond the 15 communities -- five of them on Long Island -- where it is now offered, company officials said Thursday.

Thomas Rutledge, Cablevision's chief operating officer, said during an earnings conference call with analysts that the Bethpage-based company will expand a rollout of the Wi-Fi service with hopes of completing the project in about two years.

Rutledge said Wi-Fi service will be available without charge to Cablevision customers who have Optimum Online service.

Cablevision's comments about Wi-Fi service come a few days after Comcast Corp and Time Warner Inc. announced a partnership with Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. to build a nationwide broadband wireless network.

On Long Island, Verizon Wireless has been offering its "BroadbandAccess" service in the two counties for more than a year, a Verizon Wireless spokeswoman said.

Cablevision said Wi-Fi service is already available in five Long Island communities -- Long Beach, Sag Harbor, Merrick, Northport and Huntington. It is also available in three communities in New Jersey, two in Connecticut, three in Westchester, one in the Bronx, and along the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson ferry lines. Cablevision began offering Wi-Fi several years ago.

Wi-Fi is the name for a popular wireless technology used in home networks, mobile phones, and video games. Wi-Fi is supported by nearly every modern personal computer operating system and most advanced game consoles.

Cablevision officials said the company plans to offer Wi-Fi service throughout its network to Optimum OnLine customers. Such customers will be able to access the Internet using laptops, mobile phones or other devices when they are in a Wi-Fi zone, including beaches, parks, or suburban streets.

Rutledge said during the conference call that it would cost the company approximately $100 per customer to build the Wi-Fi system. Cablevision services about 3 million homes in the New York metropolitan area.

"We can create a lot of value for customers," Rutledge said.

A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman said Verizon has been offering wireless access service on the Island "from stem to stern for more than a year."

Joseph Bonner, who follows the cable television industry for Argus Research in Manhattan, said it was "fairly critical" for Cablevision to expand Wi-Fi service, given that Verizon and Verizon Wireless is challenging Cablevision on several fronts.

"This (offering Wi-Fi) is a way of neutralizing" Verizon Wireless, Bonner said.

Rutledge, however, said during the conference call that the company's impact on Cablevision is still relatively small, even after more than two years of head-to-head marketing."