Cablevision Systems ( News - Alert) Corp., a telecommunications, media and entertainment company reportedly has announced that first phase of its wireless network build-out in New York has been completed, and the remaining work likely will be completed within two years.
For its approximately 2.4 million Internet customers, Cablevision is now going to offer WiFi ( News - Alert) services. The services will be equipped with connection speeds of up to 1.5 Megabits per second – the equivalent to the speed of domestic DSL connection – without any extra charges, although the company has no plans to provide this service to non-subscribers currently.
Other cable operators include a wireless option in their offerings, and the new WiFi network is widely seen Cablevision’s answer to them. The cost of the project is expected to reach about $310 million.
Earlier this year, a group of big industry players such as Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Bright House Networks, Intel Corp., Google Inc., Clearwire ( News - Alert) Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corp. partnered together to provide a wireless Internet service, and soon after that union was formed, Cablevision declared the launch of its own WiFi project.
In the first phase of its WiFi deployment, Cablevision has covered some areas of Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York, coupled with commuter rail platforms and station parking lots in Long Island.
The company has deployed its WiFi network in some areas of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut already, and these deployments will be integrated with the announced WiFi buildout that the company is expanding currently.
Arvind Arora is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Arvind's articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
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