August 18, 2011

Cablevision Maps Wired/Wi-Fi Connection

A new, personalized and interactive channel on Cablevision’s iO TV network promises to help Cablevision high-speed Internet customers find and use the operator’s “Optimum Wi-Fi” access points when they are away from their wired connections.

Located on iO TV channel 910, the Optimum Wi-Fi Channel displays localized and expandable maps showing indoor and outdoor Optimum Wi-Fi access points along with a variety of tutorials on how to establish a new Optimum ID and how to use Optimum Wi-Fi on specific electronic devices. The Wi-Fi Channel also can show customers their specific Optimum IDs associated with their homes or businesses, thus connecting video subscriber information with Internet subscriber data.

The personalized data on the Wi-Fi Channel is possible because set-tops in Cablevision's proprietary network are associated with specific household billing information and geographic location. This same subscriber data sometimes is used in such branded VOD channels as Disney Travel on Demand, where viewers can watch content about Disney vacations. If a customers requests more information about a Disney vacation, the set-top will know the address to send the information, for example.

“Optimum Wi-Fi is a unique and valuable benefit for Optimum Online high-speed Internet customers, and we hope this new source of information will raise awareness and give our customers the tools they need to get online when away from their wired connections,” said Kevin Curran, Cablevision’s senior vice president/Wireless Product Management, in a statement.

Available to all Optimum Online high-speed Internet customers at no extra charge, Optimum Wi-Fi delivers wireless Internet access at speeds as fast as 15 Mbps downstream and 4 Mbps upstream across tens of thousands of outdoor access points and more than 7,000 indoor locations across Cablevision’s service area.

"We have always presented Wi-Fi as better than cellphone data service," notes Jim Maiella, a Cablevision spokesman.

Cablevision also has expanded the reach of its Wi-Fi network by interconnecting with Wi-Fi service provided by Comcast and Time Warner Cable, enabling customers of all three companies to roam freely across these three distinct Wi-Fi networks. (For more, see Wireless Strategies: The Partnership’s The Thing).

-Linda Hardesty