Cablevision is working on expanding the reach of its Wi-Fi service to commuter trains in the New York City metropolitan area.
According to Bloomberg, Cablevision has submitted a proposal to enable Wi-Fi on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuter trains. Cablevision has been on the leading edge of providing free Wi-Fi hotspots to its subscribers, but the commuter train proposal would also provide non-Cablevision users access for “a reasonable access option.”
The proposal was sent to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. According to Bloomberg, Cablevision said in its bid that the service would be live within 12 months and at no additional cost to taxpayers or the MTA.
In an effort to compete with Verizon in the New York City metropolitan area, Cablevision launched its Wi-Fi service, which it calls Optimum WiFi, two years ago with an estimated price tag of $300 million.
In January, Cablevision launched an “Automatic Sign In” feature for the service, which features download speeds of up to 3 Mbps.
In April, Comcast, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable teamed up to allow their respective customers the ability to roam for free on each other’s Wi-Fi hotspots.
Last month, AT&T upped the Wi-Fi ante by trumpeting a free Wi-Fi hotspot near Times Square, but in addition to competing with the cable operators, AT&T was also trialing the service as a means to relieve congestion on its over-burdened 3G network.
