Cox Communications
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Cox slows an entire neighborhood's internet after one person's 'excessive use'
Cable company Cox Communications is slowing internet speeds of a whole neighborhood if one resident is a heavy user, Ars Technica reported.
Cox doubles down on live streaming with new TV app
Cox Communications continued to build on its investment in live TV streaming, unveiling its latest mobile app at a CES presser. Developed in partnership with Cisco, the yet unnamed app will feature 90 live channels, On Demand content and personalized video recommendations for up to eight household members. Folks who don't quite feel the recommendations they receive will also be able to "like," "dislike" or "suspend" them. Cox apparently plans to place its proverbial eggs into this one basket, eventually integrating all its mobile applications into the app. Cox has been busy releasing all sorts of digital offerings in the last few years, including the Cox TV Connect app in late 2011 as well as its Cox Mobile Connect apps. The new app is slated to debut on the iPad first but will be available on more devices by the end of the year. For more details, check out the PR after the break.
Pac-12 Conference streams come to iPad, fuel that Big Game rivalry on the road
Cal and Stanford fans away from home no longer have to huddle around their laptops if they want to learn who's one-upping who. The Pac-12 Conference has just launched an iPad app for its authenticated Pac-12 Now service: as long as you're with a TV provider that carries the college sports division's games (sorry for now, DirecTV customers), you can tune into 850 live matches spread across a myriad of sports. As you'd hope, going the digital route allows for some on-demand viewing, a dedicated program guide and the social sharing you'll want to rope friends into watching. Only Bright House, Cox and Time Warner Cable subscribers can use the iPad viewer at first, although support should come to BendBroadband, Comcast, Frontier and Suddenlink this fall, right alongside Android- and iPhone-sized apps. Hopefully, they arrive in time for a little ego padding around the Big Game in October.
FCC approves Verizon deal to buy cable company spectrum, asks for concessions
Verizon received the Department of Justice's blessing for its cable company spectrum purchase last week, and now it's the FCC's turn to rubber stamp the plan. The agency has followed Chairman Julius Genachowski's recommendation and voted that Verizon can snap up the relevant AWS airspace as part of its LTE network expansion. Some riders are attached to the deal, although they're not all weighty. Verizon has to make an "unprecedented divestiture" of spectrum to T-Mobile in addition to its swap with Leap, promise certain coverage levels in the newly acquired zones at 3- and 7-year milestones, guarantee some roaming deals and provide updates on how its DSL service adoption is impacted by all that 4G. That Verizon has 45 days to finalize the T-Mobile deal gives some idea of how quickly everything has to move, although it could be a long while before we see AWS-ready Verizon devices in the shops. To no one's surprise, advocacy groups are still upset: the Alliance for Broadband Competition believes the FCC decision "does not go far enough" to keep a level playing field, for example, and wants to voice its problems to the FCC. Anxiety still exists that just about any deal concentrates too much spectrum in the hands of Big Red. Still, there's a sense among groups like these that Verizon has had to at least partially address worries over unfair competition.
DOJ, FCC clear Verizon buyout of cable companies' spectrum, require giving up some airwaves (update: not quite for the FCC)
Verizon has been fighting hard to get its acquisition of cable companies' wireless frequencies past legal hurdles, and it just surged over the most important of the bunch: both the Department of Justice and the FCC have signed off on the agreement. To get the $3.9 billion deal through the door, Big Red will have to offload some of its spectrum to other companies, the FCC argues. The DOJ, meanwhile, is more concerned that Verizon is getting a little too cozy with Bright House, Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable in terms of marketing and reselling bundles that include cellular and cable access. Closing the deal also requires setting up a new joint venture in technology research. We're still working to learn the full details of the deal, but the spectrum handover will likely give a swift kick to Verizon's 4G capacity -- and anger a few rivals who wouldn't have wanted any handover to go through. Update: Since we posted, it's become clearer that FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has only recommended a vote in favor of the deal; the agency hasn't formally greenlit the deal just yet.
T-Mobile urges the FCC to approve Verizon's spectrum deal
It's strange to see another network provider stepping up to the plate for Verizon, but some of T-Mobile's big hitters have visited the FCC to do just that. The company wants Verizon's acquisition of AWS spectrum licenses from SpectrumCo, Cox and Leap to be pushed through as quickly as possible, and its motives are pretty obvious: it comes just a month after the companies agreed to some friendly bandwidth-sharing once the deal's done. T-Mobile has also challenged comments from the Rural Telecommunications Group (RTG), which argues that Verizon's acquisition will hurt competition. Oh, how things have changed since T-Mobile was battling in completely the opposite direction.
Cox TV Connect live TV streaming app for iPad updated with new grid guide UI
Cabler Cox Communications joined in on the live TV streaming to iPad craze by releasing its own Cox TV Connect app late last year, and recently updated it to version 1.1.0. With the upgrade comes the new look shown above, so while it originally featured a more... unique look for TV listings (as seen after the break) this version has programming sorted in the traditional grid-style guide shown above. Also mentioned is the ability for users to view and sort TV listings for all channels, although they'll still need the separate Cox Mobile Connect apps for things like DVR scheduling. Grab the new version at the iTunes link below, assuming you get your TV and internet service at the right place.
CableWiFi ties up 50,000 WiFi hotspots for cable subscribers to share
When it comes to supergroups, The Traveling Wilbury's haven't got anything on these guys. Bright House, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox and Time Warner are teaming up to share around 50,000 metro WiFi hotspots for their customers, under the banner of "CableWiFi." New York City and the Tri-State area, Los Angeles, Tampa, Orlando and Philadelphia will be among the first to get the service, with growth to more cities pledged for the future. If nothing else, it should be a good way to stick it to the man when he snatches your unlimited data plan.
Cox seeks 700MHz spectrum transfer to AT&T, U.S. Cellular
Spectrum is the new oil. Or, so it would appear given all the backbiting that's overtaken the wireless industry as of late. One company, however, is perched advantageously to benefit from these squabbles and that's Cox. In separate filings to the Commission dated today, the cabler's begun the official process of seeking approval to transfer portions of its 700MHz holdings in the A and B blocks -- acquired during an FCC auction back in 2008 -- to U.S. Cellular and AT&T, respectively. Barring any (Big Red) opposition, this exchange would put eight licenses in AT&T's fold and four in U.S. Cellular's that would enhance existing voice and data service, while also aiding in LTE buildout across southern CMAs. All three parties still have a ways to go before these deals pass regulatory approval, but if the recent state of the wireless union's any indication, one of the three primary carrier colors is bound to rear its nay-saying head.
Cox and Verizon Wireless join forces, launch service bundles in Oklahoma
It's a moderately good day to be an Oklahoman. Wireless subscribers living near Oklahoma City or Tulsa will be among the first to reap the benefits of a new collaboration between Cox Communications and Verizon Wireless that bundles services from both companies, letting customers sign up for packages that include video, internet and voice services from Cox, and wireless service from VZW at a discounted rate. They'll also be eligible to receive debit cards valued at $100-400 if they make the switch to a co-sponsored bundle. You can head over to select retail outlets from either company to sign up, or hit up the source links past the break for more info.
Alliance for Broadband Competition forms to sway opinion against Verizon's AWS acquisition
The effort to prevent Verizon Wireless from its purchase of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox just became a bit more intense, as several opponents to the deal have now banded together to form the Alliance for Broadband Competition. The coalition includes T-Mobile and Sprint, along with advocacy groups such as Public Knowledge, the American Antitrust Institute, the Rural Cellular Association and the Rural Telecommunications Group. Today, the newly formed alliance held a press conference in which it called on the FCC and Department of Justice to block the transfer, which it said would lead to an "excessive concentration of spectrum" held by Verizon Wireless. While it's not much of an olive branch, the group similarly suggested that it would support the deal if Verizon were to divest some of its spectrum holdings, establish roaming agreements and agree to a backhaul pricing structure. As you may recall, Verizon Wireless estimates that it'll exhaust its network capacity by 2014. Regardless of how this $3.9 billion proposal shakes out, it's rather clear that something's gotta give.
Cox Communications sells 20MHz wireless spectrum to Verizon for $315 million
Hot on the heels of its acquisition of a glut of AWS licenses from cable giants Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House for a few billion, Verizon's at it again. This time, Big Red's grabbing a swath of 20MHz AWS spectrum from Cox Communications for a tidy $315 million. In a separate agreement, Cox and VZW will begin selling each other's services as well. Of course, this is all pending FCC approval, but it looks like this latest purchase will have Verizon only further extending its LTE lead over Ma Bell.
Cox TV Connect app brings more live cable TV streaming to iPads
The list of pay-TV providers that don't have an app that turns your iPad into another TV screen has grown one shorter today, as Cox Communications announced its Cox TV Connect app. Like other apps from Cablevision, Time Warner, and DirecTV it's restricted to use within the home (and for jailbreakers, judging by error code 144 you may be restricted once again) while connected to Cox internet service. The description promises "over 35 " channels available, a glance at the listing on Cox's support site reveals a distinct lack of Viacom offerings (Spike is shown in the screenshots, but isn't on the list), which isn't surprising given the video giant's legal wrangling over other similar apps. We're not seeing any support for any kind of second screen interaction with what's on TV or remote control features, although the existing Mobile Connect apps have some of that covered. It does however support viewing on up to 5 tablets at once, so if your family is squeezed for screens this may be just the ticket, check after the break for a press release or hit the iTunes link below to download the free app. [Thanks, Stephen] %Gallery-141058%
Sprint in alleged talks to acquire Clearwire, cablers huddle 'round for some LTE pie
'Tis the season for patent disputes and wireless industry takeovers, or so a recent glut of moves would indicate. Shedding a little light on Clearwire's recently announced allegiance to LTE, Bloomberg is reporting that the company's currently in talks to sell its business to Sprint, and perhaps secure the funding it so desperately needs for a network build out. According to several insider sources, the third place wireless carrier's considering a joint investment (amongst other options) with Comcast, Cablevision and Cox, that would give the cablers a bundled high-speed, wireless broadband competitive advantage, and Sprint an LTE boost in its battle against AT&T and Verizon's rival 4G networks. None of the players in this rumored takeover have yet to comment on the purported transaction, although the business gossip has had quite an uplifting effect on Clearwire's shares. While we can't speculate as to the veracity of the claim, we know one thing for sure -- that LTE network's not gonna build itself.
Cox ditches 3G network infrastructure, sticks with airwaves borrowed from Sprint
Cox Communications had some grand designs on the cellular market, but they're not panning out quite as the company planned -- FierceWireless reports that though Cox already poured cash into rolling out 3G equipment, it's going to scrap the whole thing, in favor of continuing to pay Sprint for borrowed airtime. Cellular service in the original three launch markets will reportedly continue, though a quick peek at Cox's website shows the current phone selection is getting a bit stagnant. While we've yet to hear any particular reasons why Cox would want to stick it out as an MVNO, we imagine that mandatory roaming agreements make it a tad easier to offer those "Unbelievably Fair" contracts. There's also the possibility that with all the 4G fervor, Cox has decided there's no point in moving forward with CDMA equipment when LTE is ripe for the picking -- and when Cox has $304 million worth of 700MHz spectrum waiting for such a network. [Thanks, Phil]
Cox breaks return cable upload record with Motorola's help, subscribers still waiting for their cable guy
There's a somewhat narrow category here, but Cox Communications just set a benchmark for bandwidth on its Las Vegas network thanks to an RX48 DOCSIS 3.0 receiver from Motorola. That rate is 356Mbps on a 5 - 85MHz return path, which correlates to upstream performance on a cable modem. The company says the tests "demonstrate that Cox's HFC networks are much more future proof than many have believed" and that they "have the capability to support much higher data speeds than today without the need to replace any of the amplifiers, taps or cables." That will naturally leave Cox subscribers with just one question: how long until my uploads are that fast?
Cox to offer retail TiVo Premiere DVRs next year, first with cable VOD & Amazon, Netflix access
TiVo users, even with boxes provided by their cable company in the case of RCN and Comcast, have so far had to make a compromise: Choose their cable company's video on-demand offerings, or bring their own DVR and access online video from sources like Amazon and Netflix -- but that's no longer the case. Cox and TiVo have reached an agreement -- sound familiar? -- that will see allow retail CableCARD equipped TiVo Premiere DVRs to access Cox's VOD, as well as all that over the top internet video we've come to love. The SeaChange powered VOD will work similarly to RCN's, but we're waiting to see if this can give the new universal search an extra source to pull from as well. The deal also means Cox will cross promote the TiVo in its own marketing, and provide free installs for units purchased at Best Buy and other outlets including the TiVo website. The only bad news here? While TiVo plans to start testing later this year, it won't see a wide rollout (in "all major markets") until 2011. Check out the press release for all the details before calling your cable company, why should Cox customers get to choose between two different modernized, integrated set-top box platforms while the rest of us are stuck with interfaces and access rules that have been around since before the X-Games?
HTC Hero spied with Cox firmware?
We've known for some time that Cox -- a name traditionally associated with cable television -- is on the cusp of turning over its trial CDMA networks in a handful of markets to the public as it marches towards LTE on a swath of 700MHz bandwidth, but what we don't know is the kind of hardware selection we can expect once these guys go live. Take it for what you will, but it seems that an unbranded CDMA HTC Hero that looks suspiciously like Sprint's version of the handset has just changed hands on Craigslist, and -- you guessed it -- it's got a Cox splash screen when you power it on. Cox's strategy boss said just last week in an interview with Light Reading Cable that there'd be Android devices in the mix for the launch, but he played coy when pressed on details; the Hero could certainly be on the short list, but doesn't it seem a little long in the tooth to kick off a brand new network launch? Of course, this could be a hoax or a cobbled-together prototype to help test the trial network, so we'll just have to hang tight and see how this cookie crumbles; in the meantime, follow the break for the damning video evidence of the Cox Hero in the wild.
Cox trials voice calls, streaming HD video over new LTE network
Cox Communications is just now kicking off slivers of its CDMA network in Virginia, California, and Nebraska, but it's already got its sights firmly fixed on 4G services, too, having announced today the "successful completion" of LTE trials in Phoenix and San Diego supported by infrastructure from Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei. Notably, both voice calling (a hot topic in 4G right now, since there aren't any commercial handsets in the field yet) and HD video streaming were tested -- a nice little tie-in with Cox's cable biz. Airspace for all of this newfound interest in the wireless space comes from Cox's recent spectrum acquisitions in the 700MHz and AWS ranges; granted, even in a best-case scenario these guys would have to negotiated a bunch of serious roaming deals to take their service national, but in the meantime, anyone lucky enough to be within range of a Cox tower might very well be in the first wave of Americans to enjoy the spoils LTE has to offer. Follow the break for Cox's full press release.
Where there's smoke there's EPIX, cable/online hybrid channel to arrive on Cox in April
Just as rumors indicated, the second provider to pick up EPIX will be Cox Communications, with the channel scheduled to arrive in April. Cox VP Bob Wilson acknowledged helping customers increase their anytime/anyplace access was key to increasing satisfaction, we'll see if the pace of additions is similar to that of FiOS. The service worked great in beta over our cable connection, we'll see if Cox can keep things moving smoothly everywhere. Check out the full press release after the break.
