NTCA's The New Edge » Cox

Cox Rolls Out a Low-Cost Package

Steve Fravel — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:56:17 +0000

As American consumers find themselves with less discretionary income and more video choices, large cable operators are seeking new ways to attract and retain subscribers. Last year, Time Warner Cable rolled out a $29.99 TV Essentials plan and Comcast soon followed with a $24.95 offering. It is worth noting that neither line-up includes ESPN, often the most expensive of the program networks.

This past week, Cox Cable followed suit and un-wrapped a new collection called TV Economy priced at $34.99. It also does not include ESPN. When comparing the low-cost packages with the typical expanded basic packages that might run in the $60 to $80 per month range, the multi-system operators may have created a small “bridge” to get them past the continued drain due to high consumer retail rates.

Looking ahead, one must wonder if consumers will be willing to forgo access to certain expensive programming in exchange for lower video bills. Time and continued package modification will tell.

Industry Demands Scrutiny of Verizon-Cable Agreements

Jesse Ward — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:27:26 +0000

Last week Comcast and Verizon Wireless announced that they will launch a new marketing program in Seattle and Portland, Ore., selling their respective services to the other’s customers.

This is the first marketing promotion under the new landmark partnership which was announced last month, whereby Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $3.6 billion to a consortium of cable providers for 122 advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum licenses covering approximately 259 million people, or more than 85% of the U.S. population. Additionally, the cable companies and Verizon Wireless entered into a joint re-sale, marketing and technology development agreement. Separately, just a few days later, Verizon Wireless entered into an similar agreement with Cox Communications to purchase 20 MHz of AWS spectrum licenses covering 28 million POPs for $315 million.

Under the trial promotion launched in the Northwest, customers who sign up for a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless and Comcast will be eligible to receive a prepaid Visa card, varying in value from $100 to $300 depending on which Comcast bundle is selected and the length of service contract. The prepaid Visa card is intended to be used toward the purchase of a smartphone or tablet.

To qualify, customers must purchase the Comcast and Verizon services within 14 days of each other, and must activate a new smartphone or tablet device. The initial joint offer is scheduled to end May 8, 2012.

In addition to this online offering, Comcast will promote Verizon Wireless services through its call centers and in its retail stores. For its part, 8 Verizon Wireless stores in the Seattle area will be staffed with Comcast reps for the initial retail launch.

The AWS spectrum sale and related agreements have not yet been approved by the FCC or the Department of Justice, the later of which announced back in December that it is investigating the proposed transactions.Verizon Wireless maintains that the marketing agreements are not subject to regulatory approval. For its part, the DOJ’s antitrust division maintains that it has the flexibility to look into all related aspects of a proposed transaction to determine if they will result in anticompetitive market dynamics.

Last week, at the request of FCC officials, Verizon Wireless and the cable companies — Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Inc., and Bright House Networks LLC as part of SpectrumCo, and separately Cox Communications, Inc., — voluntarily submitted new information about the marketing agreements in order to avoid undue delay in the commission’s review of the spectrum transaction. However, the companies made it clear that they still believe the deals are not relevant to the spectrum transactions as they are not contingent upon one another. They also said that the FCC doesn’t have the authority to review them.

In a letter submitted last week to the commission, nine companies and public interest groups asked the FCC to require Verizon Wireless and the cable companies to publicly provide all of the documents related to joint marketing agreements so the market impact of the agreements can be reviewed. Entities signing onto the letter included C Spire Wireless, Directv LLC, Ntelos Holdings Corp., Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, Consumer Federation of America and Media Access Project.

Although they did not sign onto the joint letter, Fairpoint Communications and Frontier Communications are clearly impacted by Verizon Wireless’ partnership agreements. The two landline companies each acquired wireline network assets and customers from Verizon. Now they face competition from Verizon as it returns to these markets with LTE service offered through its new cable partner companies.

Petitions to deny the spectrum transactions must be filed with the FCC by Feb. 21, oppositions to the petitions are due March 2 and replies are due March 12 in WT docket 12-4.

Verizon Wireless Adds Cox to its Cable Partners

Jesse Ward — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:53:59 +0000

Cox Communications announced December 16, that it has entered into an agreement to sell Verizon Wireless its 20 MHz Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum licenses covering 28 million POPs for $315 million. The deal plays on the joint venture announced by SpectrumCo. and Verizon Wireless which was revealed just a few weeks ago.

Cox and Verizon Wireless also announced that they plan to sell each other’s residential and commercial products and services through their respective sales channels. Over time, Cox may have the option to sell Verizon Wireless’ services on a wholesale basis. In addition, Cox expects to enter into arrangements with the innovation technology joint venture formed by Verizon Wireless and SpectrumCo. partners Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, to better integrate wireline and wireless products and services.

“These agreements provide Cox customers with key enablers to mobility, such as access to Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network and iconic wireless devices,” said Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications. “We look forward to the many benefits this will bring to customers.”

The sale and transfer of Cox’s advanced wireless spectrum to Verizon Wireless is subject to approval by the FCC, and review under the Hart-Scott Rodino Act and other customary conditions.

As you may remember, Cox was initially involved in Sprint’s “Pivot” wireless venture along with Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks. However, all the cable networks abandoned the service back in 2008. After Pivot Wireless fell apart, three of the big cable providers — Time Warner, Comcast and Bright House Networks – invested in Clearwire’s WiMAX venture.

For its part, Cox had grand plans to build its own wireless network, utilizing the spectrum it won in the FCC’s AWS and 700 MHz auctions. The initial idea was to utilize Sprint’s EVDO network, with Cox shifting users to its own LTE service once the network was built. However, Cox announced last month that it will no longer market its wireless service to new subscribers, and it plans to discontinue its current wireless service/subscribers on March 30, 2012.

Fast forward a few years and we now see the cable industry abandoning their wireless plans and turning en mass to Verizon Wireless for the wireless component of their quadruple-play bundles. In addition to new, powerful partnerships with leading cable companies – and their subscribers — Verizon Wireless has gained access to valuable wireless spectrum. It remains to be seen how this new alliances will change the landscape of the telecom industry and, as promised by the participants, how the companies plan to further integrate innovative wireline and wireless services.

Cox Plans Reorganization

Jesse Ward — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:50:05 +0000

Cox Communications is planning a significant reorganization in order to streamline its operations, including consolidating several regional cable systems and integrating the company’s wireless business. Light Reading Cable broke the story last Friday, and Cox later confirmed the changes.

Cox intends to shrink from nine systems to seven by consolidating its Arizona and Las Vegas systems and combining its Louisiana and Florida/Georgia assets. Cox also plans to combine its wireless and technology groups under one chief technology officer.

Cox released the following statement: “The organizational changes are part of an ongoing evolution of our business to ensure Cox remains competitive, efficient and effective in serving our customers. We began consolidating systems several years ago and have continued to regionalize and centralize functions and processes as appropriate. The work to consolidate these two systems will begin later next year followed by operational and personnel changes as necessary. The impact will be invisible to our customers and the communities we serve.”

For more, see this post at Light Reading Cable.

Cox Abandons Plans for its Own Wireless Network

Jesse Ward — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:15:32 +0000

Cox Communications announced early last week that it has abandoned plans to launch its own wireless network and will instead focus on rolling out wireless voice and data service via its wholesale agreement with Sprint Nextel.

“We will soon begin to decommission our 3G network to better focus on making Cox Wireless available to more than 50% of our footprint this year,” Cox said in a statement. “We believe this approach is good for our customers, allowing us to take the necessary steps to fulfill our promise to deliver a Cox experience that customers expect from us. In continuing with our successful wholesale model for 3G wireless services, we will accomplish speed to market while achieving greater operational efficiencies from a wholesale model that continues to improve.”

Using Sprint’s network, Cox already has launched 3G wireless voice and data service in Hampton Roads, Va.; Omaha, Neb.; Orange County, Calif.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Tulsa, Okla.; Rhode Island; Cleveland, Ohio; and its service area in Connecticut.

As you may remember, Cox was initially involved in Sprint’s “Pivot” wireless venture along with Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks. Back in 2008, Cox announced that it was cutting ties with Pivot. Then in October 2008, the MSO revealed plans to launch its own wireless network. However, Cox never put its own 3G CDMA networks into service. The cable company initially said the reason for building its own network was to control the entire operation, including back-office functions, support and billing.

Up until this point, the privately-held MSO had been busy building towers and deploying base stations in a handful of markets. Cox also had been examining how to migrate its to-be-built 3G network to 4G. In early 2010, the cable company conducted trials of voice and high-definition video over LTE. With the decision to cease the 3G network buildout, the cable operator is revising its plans for 4G and LTE.

Multichannel News notes that Cox is heavily invested in spectrum licenses, to the tune of more than $550 million, including $304.6 million for 700-MHz licenses in the FCC’s 2008 auction, and $248.3 million for Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS) licenses.

For more, see this post at Multichannel News.

Cox Launches ‘TV Everywhere’ Test With TNT, TBS

Jesse Ward — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:03:17 +0000

Cox Communications has jumped on the TV Everywhere bandwagon, beta testing a new online service which offers full-length episodes from TNT and TBS within 24 hours after they air. Users who subscribe to Cox’s cable TV service can access this limited catalog of walled off and digital rights managed Internet video content.

The operator kicked off an initial test launch December 16 in all of its markets but with limited content including TNT’s The Closer, Southland and Men of a Certain Age, and TBS’s Conan, House of Payne, Meet the Browns and Lopez Tonight. Cox plans to expand the service in the first quarter of 2011.

TNT and TBS’s TV Everywhere sites – www.tnt.tv/tveverywhere and www.tbs.com/tveverywhere — are available to customers of participating affiliates.

Currently, three other pay-TV operators provide authenticated access to TNT and TBS programming: Comcast, Verizon FiOS TV and Dish Network. Although Time Warner Cable committed to the TV Everywhere approach back in mid-2009, including access to TNT and TBS content, the operator has not yet enabled access for its cable-TV customers.

Cable programmers and pay-TV operators are banking on TV Everywhere as a winning strategy which will enhance the value of a video subscription package, expand audience reach and also hedge against consumer cord-cutting behavior.

Cox Communications, TiVo Premiere and VoD

Steve Fravel — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:46:26 +0000

TiVo Inc., and Cox Communications have announced a new alliance that will allow Cox subscribers to use an integrated TiVo Premiere to access Cox On Demand. This marks the first time a U.S. cable operator will provide access to the entire video-on-demand (VoD) library via a retail DVR, and the first time that an off-the-shelf retail product will be integrated into a cable VoD service, according to a TiVo press release.

The agreement will have Cox promote TiVo Premiere to its subscribers. In addition Cox will provide free installation of the TiVo Premiere boxes purchased by subscribers at Best Buy. Cox also will promote TiVo Premiere as a fully supported, optional set-top device for the Cox service.

“We recognize that consumers are attracted to a growing range of devices that enable them to access broadband content and interactive capabilities,” said Pat Esser, President of Cox Communications, “with TiVo Premiere, Cox is providing consumers even more choice.”

The TiVo Premiere with its advanced features allows subscribers access to broadband content including movies and music, in addition to its on-demand capabilities. It is equipped with TiVoToGo and affords users remote scheduling and muti-room viewing.

For more, see this release.

Whole-Home DVR: A Necessary Feature of Your Video Bundle?

Jesse Ward — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:38:21 +0000

Several video service providers are now offering whole-home DVR services, which leaves me wondering, is whole-home DVR a mandatory feature in order to remain competitive in the video marketplace?

Whole-Home DVR typically lets users record and playback from multiple locations within the household. When users choose to watch the same recording, they can do so in different rooms with the ability to fast-forward, pause or rewind without affecting other viewers. Whole-home DVR also allows a subscriber to pause a show in one room and resume watching in another one.

AT&T has leveraged its whole-home DVR service as a key competitive differentiation. The service offers the ability to record up to four shows at one time and store up to 233 hours of standard definition (SD) video or 65 hours of high definition (HD) programming. The AT&T service is available at no additional charge for U-verse TV customers.

In early May, Cox Communications become the first cable company to launch a whole-home DVR service. Cox offers a 500 gig hard drive. Up to three different recordings can be viewed simultaneously on different televisions throughout the home. Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCa) technology will drive the whole-home DVR service, which is available for an additional $5-per-month.

On June 9, DirecTV announced that it too now offers a whole-home DVR service which is available in as many as 15-room homes. It lets users record a pair of shows while watching two other ones. DirecTV charges $7 for its traditional DVR service and an additional $3 per month for the whole-home DVR service.

And last but not least, Mediacom Communications announced last week that it will launch whole-home DVR, initially offering the service to customers “in more than 200 Illinois communities located between Rock Island and Champaign Counties and extending north to Wisconsin.” The offering provides seamless television recording and playback in up to three rooms, with the capability of recording six programs at the same time while playing back three recordings. The service utilizes a 500 GB hard drive capable of recording up to 140 hours of analog video, 390 hours of digital video, or 70 hours of HD video. Mediacom traditionally charges $10.95 per month for its DVR service. The cable provider has not announced if there will be an additional charge for its whole-home DVR service.

Oh, and one more thing. Comcast is rumored to be teeing up the service. No official word yet, but the outlook is favorable.

Cox Launches Whole-Home DVR

Jesse Ward — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:11:15 +0000

Cox Communications has revamped its home entertainment experience launching a new Trio program guide, tru2way-capable Cisco set-top boxes (STBs) and the first whole home DVR-system by a nationwide cable operator. The new features will be available to subscribers who pay $5 more on top of any level of Cox Advanced TV service and subscribe to the Plus Package.

The cable provider is using tru2way-based Cisco 8642 HD/DVR and 1642 HD receivers to deploy the Plus Package and these will be used in all Cox markets, including Cox’s Motorola environments. The STBs will afford users the capability to tune frequencies above 860 MHz, where additional HD programming will be stored.

The Cisco STBs also contain a 500 gig hard drive, about three times the storage that the cable provider is offering with its current boxes. This will come in handy alongside the Cox Whole Home DVR solution, which will allow subscribers to watch and control recorded shows on any TV in the home from a single DVR unit. Up to three different recordings can be viewed simultaneously on different televisions throughout the home. Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCa) technology will drive whole-home DVR service.

Cox developed the new, on-screen program guide in partnership with Frog Design and implemented by NDS.

Cox Trio Program Guide

The Trio guide features three panels on a single screen to make content browsing easier. It also endows customers with the ability to search and browse related content across three platforms – linear airings, On DEMAND titles and DVR recordings.

Studios, Cable Companies Partner to Promote VoD

Jesse Ward — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:14:30 +0000

Eight Hollywood studios and eight cable companies have joined forces for a $30 million advertising campaign during the next three months to promote awareness of movies available on cable video on demand (VoD). This is the first time rival studios have come together to push consumers to rent more movies through their cable boxes.

The TV, print and online ad campaign will feature the theme “The Video Store Just Moved In” and will promote the ease of ordering movies at home, via the click of a remote. It also includes a dedicated Web site at CableVideoStore.com and a Movies on Demand logo.

The studio partners in the Movies on Demand initiative include Time Warner’s Warner Bros Entertainment, News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBC Universal’s Universal Pictures and Focus Features, Rogue, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment. Notably absent are Paramount and Walt Disney. The cable partners include Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision’s digital service iO TV, Insight, Armstrong, Bend Broadband and Bright House Networks.

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