Talkback

“Cablevision Systems is taking on the Kryptonite-like municipal wireless proposition, and it’s doing things large. Or maybe that should be “long.” Because Long Island is the site of the cableco’s brand-new Wi-Fi access network, covering train platforms, parking lots and public spaces in Nassau County and in some areas of Suffolk County. …

Cablevision is making the service free for its existing customers and charging everyone else for quality service. It acts as a retention device (the well-worn “sticky service”) and sweetens the pot for those deciding between DSL from Verizon Communications. and cable modem (and that’s a throw-down not likely to subside anytime soon). And, this strategy gives it a competitive edge when Clearwire Corp. and Sprint-Nextel Corp. go live with WiMax broadband wireless later this year.

Cablevision also is the fortuitous recipient of a moment in time: Wi-Fi-enabled iPhones might make Optimum look tasty for consumers and professionals alike, especially those in the train-heavy Long Island environs who can use the waiting time to get things done, or update Facebook. Whichever. Meanwhile, 3G data cards are on the rise but using the embedded Wi-Fi client in notebooks is a lot easier, let’s be honest.

So bully for you, Cablevision, bully for you.”

Tara Seals, Xchange www.xchangemag.com

“TiVo has been racking up some big-name partnerships lately, and today’s announcement with DirecTV is icing on the cake. TiVo is creating a new high-definition DVR for DirecTV customers, and plans to launch it in the second half of next year. … These partnerships are key for TiVo, which saw its own subscriber base fall to 3.6 million at the end of June. A year ago, it had 4.2 million customers. Despite its superior DVR software, TiVo clearly isn’t going to become a giant success on its own; it needs to strike deals as a service provider for cable and satellite. That strategy appears to be working.”

Kim Peterson, MSN Money Blog blogs.moneycentral.msn.com