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Mobile & Wireless
Cox Returns To Its Roots
It’s Back To Video Basics For This Cable Operator
by Jim Barthold
Cox Communications has been providing voice services for so long (since
1997 in some of its serving areas) and with such success (numerous JD
Power & Associates quality awards over the last few years), that it’s
free to concentrate on its more basic video business in 2007.
“We, as a company and maybe overstretching a bit, as a cable industry,
had fallen behind a little bit on the video product front several years ago
and the past couple years have been coming back,” said David Pugliese,
vice president of marketing at Cox Communications.
So 2006 was a year to concentrate on that. It was, Pugliese reported,
a “great year on that” as the nation’s fourth largest MSO continued to
roll out advanced products such as HDTV (high definition television) and
high definition DVRs (digital video recorders) along with more VOD
offerings on its digital services. “We are winning customers back from
satellite in record numbers, because we have a stronger value
proposition on the video product than we ever had,” he said.
Interestingly, the main competition for video among Cox’s 5.4 million
subscribers, according to last June’s NCTA (National Cable and
Telecommunications Association) figures, is still from satellite, despite all
the talk about TelcoTV.
“IPTV’s impact on us has been zero,” Pugliese said. “When you talk
about IPTV you’re primarily talking about AT&T, and they have yet to
launch (as of early December last year, when Pugliese was speaking) an
IPTV product in any of our markets.”
That will change, of course, and things could get a little more
complicated for Atlanta-based Cox, if and when its Georgia neighbor
BellSouth folds into the AT&T product family. For now, though, the cable
operator has a clean plate to heap on video goodies and that’s just what
it’s doing.
“DVR is just an incredible product,” said Pugliese. “One of the
advantages we have over our satellite competitors is that consumers
love HD and they love DVR. We put those two together much more easily
than our competitors do.”
None of this should imply that Cox is resting on its laurels. The MSO
continues to roll out new IP-based infrastructure on top of TDM
networks that are already in place and in greenfield areas, and it’s
enhancing the features of its voice service to take advantage of IP
flexibility and link back into its high-speed data offerings.
As a member of the joint venture with Sprint Nextel, Cox is also
aggressively looking at adding a mobile wireless element to its mix.
“We will be launching our wireless service in a number of markets in
2007,” said Pugliese, noting that the company’s objective goes beyond
offering yet another wireless opportunity. “It’s really to provide mobility
to the current suite of Cox services that our customers know and love.
We really want to integrate functionality across our services.”
It all revolves around a services bundle, Pugliese emphasized. With a
mature voice business, a steady data business, and an enhanced video
business, Cox is a one-stop-shop.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth in the overall bundle,” Pugliese
said. “The biggest thing for 2006 was continued success at the three-
product bundle.”
As for 2007, “it’s that kind of feature integration across the products
that we’re striving for,” he concluded.”
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