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Cablevision Shelves 50 Mbps, $30 Wireless Service
Last year Cablevision started promoting a new fixed wireless and phone service in parts of Florida they called "OMGFAST." The product provided downstream speeds of up to 50 Mbps downstream for $30 a month through a Cablevision subsidiary. The Multichannel Video Data Distribution Service (MVDDS) technology Cablevision used employed microwave transmitters that beam signals to subscriber rooftop antennas. The product never had many subscribers (just 1,600 as of last January), and now it appears Cablevision is shutting the service down. The writing was on the wall when Cablevision sold most of their MVDDS spectrum to Dish last fall.
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tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

all in..

CV is apparently selling off it's non-core markets and going all in for it's core market (or a sale/merger which is less likely). This is likely to provide a small war chest to compete against Verizon.

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

Long Island

I wouldn't mind seeing this service here in their home territory on Long Island. Granted terrain can be a bit of a problem up on the North Shore but $30 for 50Mbps service is better than I am paying for 18/5 OOL now.
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

majortom1029

Member

Re: Long Island

said by n2jtx:

I wouldn't mind seeing this service here in their home territory on Long Island. Granted terrain can be a bit of a problem up on the North Shore but $30 for 50Mbps service is better than I am paying for 18/5 OOL now.

They were told by the fcc as terms for buying the spectrum they couldn't deploy it in their home territory.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: Long Island

The service was put in place in Florida to compete against Brighthouse and other limited competition (and deployment) in the state. Parts of the state are served by AT&T, Verizon and other small cable companies.

If you look at the anti-consumer attitude of business in Florida you'd think you were in parts of Canada. It's better Cablevision isn't associated with that until the environment changes.

As far as prices coming down.. the ball is in Verizon's court now.. CV made their move. All Verizon did was brain-fart 500mbits at a price they KNOW residential consumers can't afford to pay. REAL competition is responding by either lowering prices or offer faster speeds fthat consumers are paying for now for no extra charge. That's REAL competition. The message Verizon sent was: You want more? Pay more, alot more... you can imagine how that will affect market share in NY Metro.
tkdslr
join:2004-04-24
Pompano Beach, FL

tkdslr

Member

Darn it..

Just as they were expanding their footprint(1600 customers).. Cablevision shuts them down..

Reminds me of DirectvDSL(Telocity), when they dumped 1/4 of million paying aDSL customers on to the street, (I was one of them). (No second chances Directv)..

With any luck, Dish will pick up their infrastructure(5Ghz 802.11a+12Ghz sat equip) for a song and resume the service.

Otherwise it will be just overpriced Comcast, useless(for many, I can't even get 768Kb) At&T, and cell based options.