Cablevision to launch mobile phone service (RCR Mobile Minute)

New York’s Cablevision announced plans to launch what it calls the nation’s first Wi-Fi calling service offered by a cable operator. Called Freewheel, the service will be available to Cablevision’s existing Optimum Wi-Fi customers for $10 per month, and will cost $30 per month for other customers.
At launch, only one device will work with the service, Motorola’s Android Moto G smartphone. Cablevision will subsidize that phone for its customers by offering it at $100.
“There has been a dramatic shift in how consumers use their mobile devices; today, it’s all about data, and Wi-Fi is now preferred and clearly superior to cellular,” said Kristin Dolan, Cablevision COO. The company says the Freewheel-optimized Moto G will automatically connect to Optimum Wi-Fi hotspots, and customers can add any other locked hotspots to the phone’s memory if they know the name and password.
Wi-Fi-only is clearly not suited for the way many people use mobile phones in other parts of the country, but in the dense New York metro area it could take off. Cablevision says Freewheel will be an ideal way for people who spend their time in Wi-Fi-enabled environments to cut their mobile phone bills drastically.
Cablevision is not the first company of offer a Wi-Fi-first mobile service; Republic Wireless has a similar offer, but it moves customers to Sprint’s cellular network when they are not in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot.