Cablevision announced this morning that it was rebranding its business services division as Lightpath.

Lightpath was formerly known as Optimum Lightpath, but the name change separates the commercial service offerings from Cablevision’s Optimum-branded residential services, which it uses on triple-play residential and Wi-Fi services.

“For more than two decades, Lightpath has offered telecommunication services in the New York metro area, emerging as an Ethernet leader that is best positioned to serve a diverse customer base,” said Julia McGrath, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Lightpath. “Our customers trust the Lightpath brand and know that they can count on us to deliver the innovative solutions that help them advance.”

Lightpath has received numerous industry awards for innovation and leadership, most recently being named the 2011 North American Regional Service Provider of the Year by the MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum). Last year, it beat out AT&T and Verizon to win MEF’s Best Marketing Award for North America.

Lightpath offers Ethernet-based data, Internet, voice and video transport solutions and managed services to businesses across the New York metropolitan area. Its network has more than 5,000 route miles connecting more than 5,500 fiber-lit locations.

In its third-quarter earnings report last month, Cablevision said Optimum Lightpath’s net revenue increased 5 percent, to $81.3 million, compared with the same quarter a year ago.