Cablevision wants to use Wi-Fi to shake up cellular data market

The debate about the role of cable operators in the wireless market is heating up. Executives from most carriers and cable players have said that for now Wi-Fi provided by MSOs is complementary to cellular wireless, not a direct competitor. However, Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) sees its expanding Wi-Fi network as a lever to disrupt the current mobile data market and will be aggressive in developing new products that play into that strategy, CEO James Dolan said during a call detailing the company's first quarter 2014 earnings.

"We've been saying for quite some time that Wi-Fi is a differentiator for the business (and) now with the addition of the smart routers and the expansion of our footprint and how we reach our customers and the robustness of the network … you're going to see new products, something that we haven't seen for a while," Dolan said.

Some of those products, he promised, will be "disruptive to some of the current market places, particularly the wireless data market." Article