Cox to be first US cableco to build 3G and LTE
Published: 28 October, 2008
The US cable operators have been aggressively seeking ways to add wireless to their customer bundles, in order to compete for a greater share of consumer dollars, and compete with the quad plays of AT&T and Verizon. Most attention has focused on the participation of Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House in the Clearwire WiMAX-based venture, but Cox Communications is ploughing its own furrow and looks set to keep pace with Clearwire with a 3G build-out in its 700MHz spectrum.
Although Cox originally partnered with Clearwire cornerstone Sprint Nextel - in the failed Pivot venture between Sprint and the big four cablecos - it opted out of the 'new Clearwire' and invested heavily in the recent 700MHz auction. It spent about $304m on 14 Block A and eight Block B licenses then, and also invested $248.3m, as part of the SpectrumCo cable consortium, on AWS licenses in an earlier auction.
It has now outlined its plans, which involve building a CDMA2000 3G network starting next year, with a view to moving to LTE at the mobile broadband stage, likely around 2011. It will initially roll out CDMA EV-DO, reportedly with equipment from Huawei, in the AWS band, and will keep most of the 700MHz assets for rural coverage and for future LTE.
Before its CDMA infrastructure is in place, it will address the immediate demand for cable/wireless bundles more conventionally, via a resale deal with Sprint that kicks off in the first quarter of 2009.
"Wireless service will be a key driver to Cox's future growth," said president Pat Esser in a statement.
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