Cablevision Systems began marketing a new “Optimum Online Boost” high-speed-Internet service, charging a $14.95-per-month premium for a 30-megabit-per-second service or just $9.95 if customers already subscribe to its “Optimum Voice” telephony service.
Those fees are tacked onto its existing cable-modem fees, which range from $29.95 monthly for customers who take its triple play of video, voice and high-speed Internet to $49.95 for subscribers who only opt for Optimum Online.
Cablevision is also boosting the speed of its standard Optimum Online service to 15 mbps downstream and 2 mbps upstream, at no additional cost, from former speeds of 10 mbps downstream and 1 mbps upstream.
The upgrade comes as Cablevision faces new competition from Verizon Communications, which is marketing a $34.95 monthly FiOS Internet service in New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y., offering speeds of 5 mbps.
FiOS Internet also offers a premium $179.95 monthly 30-mbps service, which is more expensive than Cablevision’s new Optimum Boost service.
Cablevision counts 1.8 million high-speed-Internet customers. About 40% of the homes the MSO passes in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut subscribe to the high-speed service.
