Wi-Fi Island-Wide?
Firm Plans to Expand Web Service on Island

The company providing Internet services at the Octagon Apartments hopes to provide similar services covering all of Roosevelt Island, using both "wi-fi" (wireless coverage via radio waves) and the existing power lines in residential buildings.

Telkonet, based in Hawthorne, New Jersey, has already established "wi-fi hot zones" covering the southern half of Central Park, Columbus Circle, and several Trump buildings in Manhattan. At the Octagon Apartments, where developer Becker and Becker is including high-speed cabled Internet access as part of the building’s high-tech offerings, Telkonet’s NuVisions branded service will use both wi-fi and cabled access.

For other areas of Roosevelt Island, Telkonet President Frank Matarazzo says his company is contacting building owners, tenant associations, and others in an effort to secure contracts to provide the services. Where it is not provided as part of a blanket contract, NuVisions service can be purchased on an hourly basis. Current pricing is $9.95, for example, for a measured ten hours that can be used in bits and pieces over an extended period of time, or month-by-month for unlimited access at $29.95. Subscribers on the Island will be able to use NuVisions service anywhere it’s offered, not just on the Island.

"We are competitive with TimeWarner and RCN," Matarazzo told The WIRE. He points out that with powerline-based service, a customer can connect through any electrical socket in an apartment. A company press release says Telkonet is using equipment from Gigabeam Corporation, passing signals from building to building in Manhattan.

Matarazzo refused to provide information on which buildings, other than Octagon Apartments, it has contacted, saying that information is currently "confidential."

Meantime, Hudson-Related is working toward provision of Wi-Fi service in Riverwalk Commons, the space over the subway tunnel between Southtown buildings 3 and 4.