Wifi Revolution

Cablevision has said it fully completed the initial phase of its Optimum (News - Alert) WiFi deployment - offering free and unlimited wireless Internet access as a value-added benefit for Cablevision's Optimum Online high-speed Internet customers.

 

Installation was completed over in the commercial and high-traffic areas of Nassau County, in areas of Suffolk County, and on the commuter rail platforms and station parking lots across all of Long Island.

 

According to officials, provisions have been given for customers through Optimum to login online through their laptop and with a WiFi enabled device such as an iPhone (News - Alert) or iPod Touch. Once a customer logs into the service by entering their Optimum User ID and password, the network can deliver fast symmetrical speeds of up to 1.5 megabits-per-second.

 

"One of the keys to Cablevision's continued growth and success is ensuring that we are delivering the best and most technologically advanced services to our customers," said Tom Rutledge, Cablevision's chief operating officer.

 

"We believe free and broadly available WiFi access will become an important and popular enhancement for our Optimum Online customers. Just a few months into our Optimum WiFi deployment, we have already built and activated the nation's largest and most advanced consumer WiFi network, which will continue to grow and expand, ultimately allowing Optimum customers to bring the superior Internet experience they enjoy at home with them across our entire service area."

 

Cablevision claims that it provides the highest penetration of Internet services in the U.S. and is highly capable of providing the desired form of wireless broadband connectivity for the many people living in metropolitan areas.

 

Most of Cablevision's subscribers already have at least one WiFi-connected laptop or desktop computer, and a rapidly increasing percentage of mobile smartphones have WiFi connectivity, including all Apple (News - Alert) iPhones and many RIM BlackBerrys. The latest frontier is WiFi connectivity for cameras, media players and printers.

 

The company predicts that by mid-2009, a new category of 'mobile Internet devices' will emerge all of which will be WiFi connected.

 

Optimum WiFi follows the standard prescribed by the WiFi Alliance (News - Alert) 802.11 in wireless home networks. They have also launched a Web site for customers to provide added info. on Optimum WiFi including tutorials and detailed coverage maps, which will be updated as the deployment continues across Long Island and in Cablevision's service area in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester and Hudson Valley, the Bronx and Brooklyn.

 

 

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