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Jan. 26, 2010

Late yesterday, Cox Communications said it has fully completed its LTE tests in Phoenix and San Diego just before its initial 3G network launch expected sometime this week.

Cox Communications is the only cable provider in the U.S. that is building its own network to get into the wireless segment. Others are expected to follow later in the year, however.

Stephen Bye, Cox’s vice president of wireless services said in a statement that the company was encouraged by the success of its LTE (long-term evolution) tests, and that now it is ready to launch its 3G network.

The tests were conducted together with Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent, and involved voice and streaming high-definition video over Cox's cable network. The company chose to hold the tests in Phoenix and San Diego because of the markets’ high percentage of early adopters of new technology, as well as the terrain and varying densities of the populations.

“Our cable customers have asked us to include wireless services as part of their bundle and we’ve listened,” he said. “We’re excited to let consumers know that they will soon have a better choice for wireless service. We’ve carefully considered the unmet needs of wireless customers and we’ll be delivering a service that is uniquely Cox to address those specific needs,” said Stephen Bye.

The company’s initial CDMA deployments are in Hampton Roads, Va., Orange County, Calif., and Omaha, Neb.

Cox says it will eventually expand the workforce in its CDMA markets by about twenty percent. The company’s 3G service is already available only to residential customers, but Cox plans to roll out business class service as well in the near future, but the company declined to offer any time frame.

Cox isn’t the only cable company vying for the wireless space. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks have all invested considerably in mobile Wi-MAX provider Clearwire in order to get into the game.

For its part, Comcast has already begun reselling Clearwire’s mobile WiMAX service under the High-Speed-2-Go brand in several markets, including Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Time Warner recently launched its Road Runner Mobile service in Dallas and several areas of North Carolina.

Some wireless industry analysts predict that more cable companies in the U.S. are expected to follow in Cox's foot steps in the coming weeks.

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Source: Cox Communications.