Cablevision Details Two-Year Wi-Fi Buildout

Cablevision Systems Corp. this week joined the fast-growing wireless fray when it said it will build out its 15-zone Wi-Fi network to cover its multistate service area.

Existing customers will get access for free, while non-customers will have to pay to use the service.

The network will cover parts of northern New Jersey, Connecticut and New York and will take roughly two years to build, Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge said Thursday in the company’s earnings call.

“As more and more devices become Wi-Fi enabled, whether they be laptops, iPhones, Blackberries or other portable devices, we believe we can create a compelling broadband wireless network throughout our footprint for our Optimum Online high-speed data service customers,” Rutledge said, noting that this network “will be built using our existing infrastructure, overlaying a wireless mesh network.”

When completed, any Optimum Online customer should have service anytime, anywhere within Cablevision’s footprint, at speeds of up to 1.5mbps, Rutledge said.

“With our Optimum OnLine customer base now at 50 percent of our footprint, we have the critical mass, and we believe the demand, for this service to be compelling,” said Rutledge.

The network expansion effort comes one day after cablecos including Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable announced they’re part of a group investing billions in a WiMAX joint venture called Clearwire that’s been created by Sprint and Clearwire Corp. The effort will also include Google and Intel Corp.

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