US cable operator Cablevision has shut down Freewheel, its WiFi-only phone service, apparently because its uptake figures were too low to impress new owner Altice, which is looking to make cuts to improve the balance sheet. Freewheel was closely watched because it was the first effort by a major US cableco to harness WiFi for a multiplay bundle and challenge the mobile operators without using their networks at all. Its failure will cheer the MNOs, which may not be able to fend off cable competition altogether, but at least want that to involve MVNO fees to improve their revenues. But while WiFi-only may not be up to the job of taking on the cellcos with their high-coverage, high-QoS networks, that…