Cablevision Launches Consumer VoIP

New York City-based cable operator Cablevision Systems Corp. has launched a consumer voice-over-IP service, called Optimum Voice, for its Optimum Online broadband customers.

The service, which is unannounced and is being offered only to limited areas of Long Island, includes many of the features of other consumer VoIP offerings. For about $35 per month, subscribers receive unlimited calling in the United States and Canada, plus five calling features: caller ID, call waiting, call return (*69) three-way calling and call forwarding.

Cablevision is the second large cable company to announce consumer voice-over-IP (VoIP) services this month (see "Tele-Media Cable VoIP Counters Hosted-Voice Threat"). Some cable operators have been concerned that consumer VoIP services, such as Vonage or Packet8, which are accessed over broadband connections, could rob them of potential voice customers. With pricing at $35 per month compared to Vonage's $40 and an equally attractive slate of phone features, plus its existing relationship with customers, Cablevision has set up an offering that appears highly competitive to its VoIP rivals.

Cablevision is characterizing the deployment as a trial, though it is not described that way on the customer Web site. The company says it does not want to release technical details of the project until its near full deployment, likely in the third quarter of this year.

On a conference call Feb. 12 with financial analysts, Tom Rutledge, president, cable and communications, Cablevision Systems Corp., said, "We are currently marketing voice over IP on Long Island, testing how the business works. We plan to move those customers over to a softswitch."

Rutledge said that the service is now configured as voice over IP in the cable plant distribution loop, but with call control provided by "one of our Lightpath hard switches." He added, "We think we can have a softswitch purchased by the end of the second quarter and have the business ramped up after that."

The Cablevision service is unique among recent announcements of consumer voice over IP in that it offers 911 service. However, customer service representatives at the company's call center caution would-be subscribers to retain at least one traditional phone, wireline or mobile, because the service will not function if there is a power outage. "We promote this as a good second-line solution," a customer service rep said.

There are reports that Cablevision may be offering the service for as little as $30 in some areas as a promotion. The areas where the service is offered now include parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Optimum Online also employs a cable modem with a built-in terminal adaptor (a general term for the interface between a standard phone and a broadband network) and RJ-11 standard phone plug, rather than using a standalone terminal adaptor.

Cablevision Systems has been one of the pioneers in the cable industry of fiber optic technology and has one of the most heavily fibered systems in the United States. In addition to consumer VoIP services, the company offers a wide range of business data and voice services, under its Lightpath division. including frame relay and ATM connectivity, virtual private networks (VPNs) and voice over IP.