Comcast, to promote mobile access to 2012 Summer Olympic Games coverage by its NBCUniversal division, will provide free access to several thousand of MSO-operated Wi-Fi hotspots along the East Coast during the London Games, which run July 27 to Aug. 12.
Both Comcast's Xfinity Internet customers and non-customers will be able to log in to the hotspots, which are dotted along across and outdoor public locations throughout the greater Philadelphia area and its suburbs in addition to areas of New Jersey and Delaware.
The free Wi-Fi is available at all of Comcast's "owned and operated" hotspots, according to spokesman Charlie Douglas. He declined to provide a specific number of hotspots.
Comcast has reciprocal Wi-Fi agreements with operators including Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems, which allow broadband subscribers of the respective MSOs to log in to each other's Wi-Fi networks. Non-Comcast hotspots are not part of the free Wi-Fi promotion for the Olympics.
Comcast said the promotion is designed to let consumers watch use mobile devices to log in to NBCOlympics.com's live coverage of the 2012 London Games.
"This is an exciting time of year and we're pleased to offer anyone who has a wireless device in this region, complimentary access to Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots so they can catch their favorite athletes and sports even if they're on the go," Sean Brushett, vice president of sales and marketing for Comcast's Freedom Region, said in a statement.
In Philadelphia, Comcast's Wi-Fi hotspots are located in shopping districts, in SEPTA train stations and on platforms, near parks and hospitals and in sport and entertainment venues like the Wells Fargo Center and Xfinity Live. In New Jersey, Xfinity W-iFi is available in shore towns as well as other areas from Union to Cape May, including: Berkeley Heights, Livingston, Long Branch, Montclair, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Red Bank, Rumson, Summit and Trenton. Wi-Fi access is also available to N.J. Transit passengers at stations throughout northern New Jersey.
To access Xfinity Wi-Fi, users should look for "xfinitywifi" on their wireless device and follow the prompts to begin their Wi-Fi session. Comcast provides a map of its Wi-Fi hotspots at comcast.com/wifi.
Comcast, along with other pay-TV providers, will provide access to NBC Olympics Live Extra with more than 3,500 hours of programming to most customers who subscribe to the digital starter package.
NBCU offers two apps for mobile and tablet viewing, built in partnership with Adobe Systems: The NBC Olympics Live Extra app will be available to verified Xfinity TV customers and will offer the same live streaming and event replays available via NBCOlympics.com/LiveExtra. The NBC Olympics app -- free for anyone to use -- will include short-form highlights, schedules, results, columns and more.
