Cablevision is now offering its cable customers cable modem speeds over its Optimum Wi-Fi network of hotspots, hitting 15 megabits per second down and 4 megabits per second on the uplink. The upgrade is a vast improvement over the previous speeds, which hit 3 mbps down and 1.5 mbps up.

The faster performance is available at tens of thousands of Optimum Wi-Fi locations around the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area such as downtown areas, parks, commuter rail platforms, as well as 7,000 indoor hotspots built by Cablevision business customers. Cablevision said half a million of its 3 million cable subscribers have accessed its Wi-Fi network while out of the home. The upgrade should also be available to Time Warner Cable (s TWX0 and Comcast subscribers, who have access to the Optimum Wi-Fi network in New York.

“This is a huge enhancement for our customers and a significant step forward for mobile online access.  With this increase, Optimum WiFi not only blows away 3G and
4G cellular data speeds, it’s three times faster than the average wired residential broadband service across the country,” said Kevin Curran, Cablevision’s senior vice president of wireless product management.

And that “blows away 3G and 4G cellular data speeds” element is a large component of the shift as cable providers realize they not only have to compete against Verizon and AT&T’s wireline networks, but increasingly with their newly launched 4G networks. Sure, Wi-Fi can help ease the mobile bandwidth crunch, by offloading big traffic from cellular networks, which is why AT&T and Verizon are so keen, but it’s also a way to keep wireline customers loyal and seeing the value of sticking with Cablevision.

New York City is getting some Wi-Fi love lately. AT&T just announced it was launching Wi-Fi hotspots in 20 New York parks. The DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, home to a number of startups, also recently received free Wi-Fi thanks to a local improvement district and management company. The city also has big Wi-Fi deployments from AT&T and Towerstream in Manhattan. It’s a good thing because cellular service can be extremely trying in New York, where getting and holding on to a signal can be tough.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

• Report: The Ongoing Battle for the Digital Home
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Live in New York? Pop over here and register for your free Wi-Fi! If you have a RoadRunner cable account, you can connect to free WiFi in “several” locations around New York including Bryant and Madison Square Parks and some parks in Queens. If you’re thinking to yourself “Hey, a few parks in Manhattan, some DMZ out in the boonies, and some spots in Port Washington (probably where the uncles of Time Warner executives live) do not make overarching WiFi access for the masses,” then you’re probably right. But when’s the last time Time Warner Cable did anything nice for you? Maybe you could be appreciative?

Thankfully you also have access to “thousands” of Optimum Wi-Fi hotspots, so it’s not THAT bad. But then Optimum’s coverage isn’t exactly in Manhattan.

Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi Zones Now Available To New York City Area Road Runner High-Speed Online Customers

Time Warner Cable and Cablevision’s Optimum WiFi Partner to Provide Free Seamless Wireless Internet Connectivity to High-Speed Internet Customers of Both Companies

New York, NY (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 25, 2010 — Time Warner Cable’s NYC Region today introduced Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi service, giving its one million local Road Runner residential customers unlimited access to a fast and free wireless Internet connection at several locations in the NYC area. Through a partnership with Cablevision, Time Warner Cable customers will also have access to thousands of free Optimum WiFi locations throughout Cablevision’s service area. Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi is now available at several Wi-Fi zones in Manhattan and Queens, including several parks and some Long Island Railroad platforms and their respective parking lots in the company’s service area.

High-Speed Internet customers of both Time Warner Cable and Cablevision will be able to access free, unlimited Wi-Fi services in each other’s New York City metro service areas, allowing for a fast Internet connection at designated Wi-Fi zones. Time Warner Cable Road Runner customers will have access to Cablevision’s Optimum WiFi network, and Cablevision’s Optimum Online customers will have access to Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi zones when they travel out of their service area. Time Warner Cable’s New York City service area includes Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, western Brooklyn, Mt. Vernon, parts of the Hudson Valley region, and Bergen and Hudson Counties in New Jersey. Cablevision’s coverage area includes Long Island, parts of New Jersey and Connecticut, Westchester, Rockland, Northern Hudson Valley, the Bronx, and Brooklyn.

“Our sophisticated network is a combination of wireless and wireline services, bringing a wide spectrum of products and services to our customers. This free new Wi-Fi option adds another dimension for Road Runner customers, bringing even more convenience,” stated Howard Szarfarc, Executive Vice President of the company’s New York City Region. “Road Runner customers can experience a fast, simple and easy connection from their laptops or portable Wi-Fi-enabled devices in Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi zones, meeting their growing need for mobility.”

According to Kevin Curran, Cablevision’s Senior Vice President of Wireless Development, “Optimum WiFi has become a valuable and popular enhancement for our high-speed Internet customers, who appreciate the ability to take their Internet connection ‘to go’ when they are out of the home or office. We are very pleased to help mark the launch of Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi by linking our networks and expanding our customers’ access to fast and free wireless Internet, especially as demand for mobile data continues to increase.”

Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi zones include:

Eight commuter rail platforms on the Long Island Railroad Port Washington line: Woodside, Flushing Main Street, Murray Hill, Broadway, Auburndale, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck;
Manhattan: Bryant Park, Madison Square Park and 79th Street Boat Basin;
Four parks in Queens: Bowne Park and Kissena Park in Flushing, Baisley Pond Park and Railroad Park in Jamaica.

Road Runner customers will also have access to thousands of Cablevision’s Optimum WiFi zones. For a complete listing of Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi zones, visit TimeWarnerCableWiFi.com. A user-friendly Q+A is available on the site too. For a complete listing of Optimum WiFi locations, visit Optimumwifi.com.

Well, I don’t think it’s a stretch anymore to say that Comcast’s latest venture into online video is a off to a good start. CBS is the latest network to join the impressive lineup which also includes HBO and Cinemax as of yesterday. This networks is a big step for Comcast On Demand Online as CBS is the only major network not available on the free to everyone site, Hulu. But remember, Comcast On Demand Online will only be available to Comcast subs who currently pay for the stations. (e.g. if you can’t watch HBO on your TV, you can’t watch it online)

Comcast will open the service to 5,000 beta testers in the coming weeks. I’m just curious about how many more networks will sign up before it launches to everyone. The service already has the most of any online viewing site available with, all the major networks, HBO, Cinemax, Stars, TBS, TNT, and most of the cable stations.

CBS TO PARTICIPATE IN COMCAST’S ON DEMAND ONLINE
NATIONWIDE TRIAL

As the First Broadcaster To Participate, CBS Agrees to Test Standards and Principles for

“TV Everywhere” Model

NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA, July 14, 2009 — CBS Corporation (NYSE:  CBS.A) and Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq:  CMCSA, CMCSK) announced today that CBS is the first broadcast network to participate in Comcast’s technical trial of On Demand Online.  The new service will significantly expand the number of top-rated TV shows available online and across platforms at no additional charge to Comcast’s cable customers while delivering increased advertising value to content owners.  During the course of the trial, CBS plans to test various types of current and library content.

“CBS and Comcast share the same vision of giving consumers more — more content, in more places,” said Matt Bond, Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition, Comcast Cable.  “On Demand Online is a major step in extending consumers’ television experiences online, and ultimately across platforms by giving any television network, including top brands like CBS, the ability to make their content available on the Web.”

“CBS is very supportive of initiatives that help extend our content to new platforms in such a way that we gain new audiences and additional value for our advertisers,” said Quincy Smith, Chief Executive Officer, CBS Interactive. “Comcast is already a trusted platform to distribute CBS content on air as well as on demand; expanding this relationship online is a logical step.  In addition, CBS’s strategy has always been about open, non-exclusive distribution of our content in a consumer friendly way, which is a core tenant of TV Everywhere and On Demand Online.”

CBS’s participation in Comcast’s technical trial comes on the heels of last month’s joint announcement between Time Warner Inc. and Comcast which introduced a set of principles called “TV Everywhere.”  Developed by the two companies, the principles are designed to serve as a framework to facilitate deployment of online television content in a way that is consumer friendly and pro-competitive.

Comcast will begin its technical trial of On Demand Online with approximately 5,000 customers from across the U.S. in the coming weeks – the first national trial of its kind.  A major focus of the trial is to test Comcast’s new “authentication” technology, which will allow Comcast customers to receive the same content online for free that they subscribe to on TV.  The service will utilize a simple log-on system for streaming content and, in the future, will allow for download content to go.  The On Demand Online service will roll-out in phases, adding new features, functionality and content over time to provide consumers with a new way to watch television.

On Demand Online is part of Comcast’s Project Infinity, the company’s long-term vision to give customers an ever growing amount of video content on multiple platforms, whenever they want.