Cox Mobile, which officially launched in Cox markets nationwide one year ago, commemorated its anniversary with a media event at CES 2024 in Las Vegas this week.
Cox uses Verizon’s network under an MVNO arrangement to offer mobile services packaged with its Cox Internet service.
The company officially launched its Cox Mobile offering in all Cox markets at this time last year and has experienced “great reception” from its customer base, said Todd Smith, assistant vice president of Public Relations at Cox.
Privately held Cox doesn’t reveal how many MVNO customers it’s serving, but Smith said it’s met the initial subscriber goals and experienced growth similar to its cable peers when they initially launched. Comcast and Charter Communications also use Verizon’s network under MVNO arrangements.
“We are focused on raising awareness with our customers through increased marketing and sales in 2024 to continue aggressive growth in Cox Mobile,” Smith told Fierce via email.
Shortly after Cox’s launch last year, executives acknowledged that they did not yet have “all the iconic devices people would expect.” Cox first rolled out its MVNO service in the fall of 2022 with Samsung devices. By spring of 2023, however, they were supporting various versions of the iPhone; it also offers devices from Google Pixel and TCL.
Asked about the significance of the iPhone, Smith responded: “Our ability to offer a diverse set of devices to our customers is very important as it allows us to offer several choices and opportunities to served them on their preferred platform.”
Collectively, the cable industry’s growth in the wireless industry is hard to miss, with some analysts seeing it emerging as the fourth player, even though that job was supposed to go to Dish Network via the government’s remedy in the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.
Subscriber growth for the Big 3 wireless carriers has slowed and they’re rapidly losing share to cable companies’ wireless offerings, noted MoffettNathanson in a report for investors in November. The cable companies also are offloading traffic onto their Wi-Fi networks, making it more profitable.
Cox and FWA
Last year, Cox launched a proof-of-concept fixed wireless access (FWA) trial using 5G technology outside of Macon, Georgia; Tucson, Arizona; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to deliver high-speed internet to customers in underserved and rural communities.
Smith didn’t specifically address the status of the trials but said “we are continuing to explore opportunities to utilize fixed wireless in various parts of the country to enable robust broadband connectivity in underserved areas.”
The initial trials have been “very positive” with positive feedback from the trial participants, he said.
“We continue to evolve our operational approach to deliver a superior experience to customers in these underserved areas. We are also excited about the CBRS spectrum that we have utilized within our trial markets through a combination of our PALs and available GAA spectrum,” Smith said.
To date, Cox has primarily used GAA, or General Authorized Access unlicensed spectrum, for private cellular deployments, particularly indoors and in rural environments where conflict from neighboring sites is mitigated, he said.
Cox will use its Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in private network settings where mission-critical use cases necessitate an extra layer of prioritization and protection, he said.