Wi-Fi phones entering Morris County market

Cablevision is poised to become the first cable provider in the United States to offer a low-cost, Wi-Fi-only phone service.

The game-changing Freewheel service — which would cost as little as $9.95 per month to Cablevision's existing Optimum Online subscribers for unlimited mobile smart phone, data and Internet access — is expected to roll out next month. New subscribers would pay $29.95 per month.

Cablevision is the dominant cable provider in Morris County.

"There has been a dramatic shift in how consumers use their mobile devices," said Cablevision Chief Operating Officer Kristin Dolan. "Today, it's all about data, and Wi-Fi is now preferred and clearly superior to cellular."

The service also requires initial customers to purchase from the company a Motorola G (Android) smart phone for $100, but it would come with preloaded apps designed to automatically connect to Optimum hotspots.

Unlike most traditional phone plans, no contract is required. The company also says it will offer international calling plans and a money-back guarantee.

While a few start-up companies offer similar low-cost services, including FreedomPop, Republic Wireless and Scratch Wireless, Cablevision has beaten Google's Wi-Fi phone service to the market as providers continue the attempt to meet growing customer demand for wireless services.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Google has been developing a hybrid service that would use both Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Hybrid or "Wi-Fi-first" networks initially search for Wi-Fi signals, then switch to cellular if Wi-Fi is not available. The report says Google was unable to meet a target roll-out date of October 2014 for its service but aims to get it going this year.

According to the Journal report, Google would resell service on the Sprint and T-Mobile networks. Representatives from Google, Sprint and T-Mobile U.S. declined comment on the report.

Cablevision's Freewheel would operate exclusively on Wi-Fi, tapping into the company's existing network of Wi-Fi hotspots in the New York Tri-State area along with millions more nationwide at businesses such as Starbuck's, McDonald's.

It would also work through any home or private Wi-Fi network a customer has access to.

Cablevision, in a release announcing the service, also noted that Wi-Fi already is the dominant technology for mobile-data communications, citing a 2014 Cisco Systems report that found that 93 percent of all data traffic generated by mobile or portable devices in the United States was carried via Wi-Fi.

At least until Wi-Fi networks expand to cover as much area as cellular networks, the Freewheel service has limitations that would exclude it as a practical option for some customers. An elderly person looking for an emergency phone that would work during a power outage, for example, would not be an ideal customer.

At a cost as low as 20 percent of typical cellphone plans, Freewheel an intriguing option for students, people who spend their day in Wi-Fi-covered environments or happen to be in an area rich in Wi-Fi but limited in cellular reception.

Smart-phone or tablet users who overspend on data limits in their cellular plan are another potential source of new business for the company, as are customers who cannot afford a cellular package.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@njpressmedia.com.