Cox Plans to Launch a Cellular Network - WSJ.com Cox Communications Inc. will have the tough job of trying to differentiate itself from competitors as the cable operator prepares to start a wireless service this year in an already crowded U.S. market.
So any thoughts on whether they'll go GSM or CDMA? I'm thinking GSM because of the eventual move to LTE, but who knows at this point. -Jay
Cox used to be a partner with Sprint here in the West from 1996 to 1999. They have a CDMA background so my guess is CDMA.
...more specifically, the Ericsson RBS6000 according to a CTIA article ...from what I know about the new 6000 line of RBS, the base-station is structured very differently than past base-stations. It's alot more flexable in that you can simply plug in GSM, UMTS, LTE or whatever modules and run them all inside the same base station. In the past, you would need a different base-station for each different technology.
As a customer, I think Cox could be successful in the wireless world. I'd be willing to give their service a try, depending on their prices, phone selection, network size, and roaming terms. They've had far better customer service than other cable operators I've had, Comcast and Verizon FiOS. Their call centers are U.S. based and I've never had a wait time over a couple mins. I know many people say you can't compare Verizon Communications and Verizon Wireless customer support because of the huge difference, but Cox Communications already seems to be up to par. They seem to provide cable services mainly in a number of urban areas, and if Leap and Metro can do it, I would think Cox should be profitable too. They already have the name recognition and a database full of potential customers that subscribe to their other services. They probably already run lines to, or very near, most cell towers in their service area. I've read other articles that said Cox was going down the CDMA to LTE path and working with Sprint on several aspects of their build-out and roaming. So they have the potential to become a very good choice in a small period of time.
I used to work for cox and the last thing i heard when i was there is that they plan to piggy back off of sprints network until they get things rolling on their own. It was just a rumor i heard while working there so it may be false.
