Cable telecom giant Cox Communications Inc. recently announced it will launch wireless services in 2009. Stephen Bye, VP of Wireless at Cox, will play an integral part in the initiative as he will be responsible for the company’s wireless products and services strategy.
Bye will also establish a long-term vision for wireless and support field operations during the planning, deployment and ongoing operations. This could be a hefty task for Bye and for the company overall. Cox has attempted to bring wireless to its portfolio in the past, and failed.
As cable companies continue to creep into the wireless market, Bye will have some tough tasks on his hands, not to mention a weakening economy. Bye spoke with RCR Wireless News on how Cox will face its challenges during the 2009 launch.
This is not the first attempt at wireless for Cox. After failing a few times in the past, why try again?
Our previous efforts in wireless were productive because we [learned a lot] which were instrumental in forming our wireless strategy today. For us, wireless service is a natural extension of our existing bundle of services. We already have a trusted relationship with our customers and many of them have told us they want greater mobility and integration with their current Cox services — and they want Cox to bring it to them. Moving forward, the next frontiers for wireless services are data and video. Our customers already trust us with data and video — and no one knows that side of the business better than Cox in the markets we serve.
What will be different in this third attempt at going wireless?
Through our previous endeavors we’ve learned first-hand how to best serve our customers with wireless. Our wireless operations will be fully integrated into the core of the business. As such, we will manage every aspect of the service including product development, network engineering, marketing and sales, customer care, all aspects of billing and support and everything in between. Our wireless strategy ensures that we have the necessary control points to deliver on our promise of being the trusted provider, delivering a more streamlined on-boarding experience with better pricing and control of our brand.
Cable companies have a history of failing to capitalize on bundled or quad-play offerings. Will Cox offer such initiatives and if so how does it expect to succeed where so many others have failed?
Our wireless service will be sold as an extension to our existing bundle of services, but will also be available standalone. Most customers will choose to bundle their services to enjoy the improved value with integrated services. However, bundling is not new to Cox. We were the first cable company to deliver a three-product bundle when we launched telephone service more than 10 years ago. Today, 64% of our customers already subscribe to a Cox bundle. And wireless will be another component to the Cox bundle, giving us yet another opportunity to add greater value and enhance the customer experience.
How will Cox position itself against large, and successful competitors in the wireless space such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility?
Cox changed the competitive landscape in telecommunications when we launched Cox Digital Telephone, pioneering the bundle. Skeptics thought that we would never achieve significant penetration with landline phone and today some of our most mature phone markets have greater than 40% penetration. We know a little something about how to compete. As a new entrant, we had the flexibility to “reinvent” telephone plans in the marketplace. And now, with wireless, we have the flexibility yet again to introduce a simpler and better wireless offer, making it easy for consumers to continue to choose Cox as their trusted provider. Wireless is an offensive play for Cox and is key to our future growth as a total communications provider.
What are Cox’s coverage plans for wireless?
We will market our wireless service within our existing markets. Coverage, however, will be national and international so that a Cox customer will have wireless service no matter where they travel.
Are there any pricing details that you can point out at this time?
For competitive reasons, we cannot share our pricing at this time.
Cox has also said it will eventually upgrade to LTE technology. What was behind that decision?
In the long run, we believe LTE is the best way to build out a 4G network based on the economies of scale that is achieved by the broad global industry support and standardization. The broad global adoption of LTE will also fuel the ecosystem of device and applications, again enabling Cox to take advantage of the global scale of this 4G technology.
This is a brave move during a rough economy and tough fiscal times. How will Cox stay afloat?
While the current economic environment is challenging and may well be for a while, one hallmark of Cox’s culture is our view toward the long-term with a focused, deliberate and disciplined strategy. Our company is strong and we will continue to foster its growth by taking advantage of new opportunities such as wireless.
