If Friday’s WiFi announcement from Cox Communications and Bright House Networks sounded familiar, there’s a good reason why.
Cox and Bright House said Friday that customers of both companies would be able to use WiFi hotspots operated by either company. And if readers are experiencing déjà vu, that’s because both companies are involved in the CableWiFi initiative announced back in May 2012 — an initiative aimed at enabling customers of any of several cable companies to use one another’s infrastructure. Companies partnering on that initiative included Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cablevision, as well as Cox and Brighthouse Networks.
When Telecompetitor asked Cox and Bright House about all of this today, spokespeople for the companies said “While both MSOs are a part of CableWiFi, we had not yet deployed the technology so our customers could use each other’s hotspots. This announcement is to highlight this accomplishment. Now, all Cox and Bright House Networks customers can access any of the partners’ hotspots and vice versa.”
The spokespeople added that “with the integration of Cox and Bright House Networks hotspots, customers may now access free WiFi in additional areas including Orlando, Tampa, Daytona, Northern Virginia, Connecticut and Indiana.”
The companies declined to provide any information about what percentage of their customers use their WiFi offering or how many hours per week they use it.
The Hotspot 2.0 initiative aims to simplify the process through which customers of one network operator connect to another operator’s infrastructure. But Cox and Bright House said CableWiFi is not based on Hotspot 2.0.
“Customers log in for first-time access,” the companies said.
