Cox changes course after dropping from Pivot

Cox Communications Arizona was on the leading edge of a what telecommunications analysts called the future of bundled communications services in the United States just months ago. Along with wireless heavyweight Sprint Nextel Corp., Cox and cable providers ComCast and Time Warner Cable embarked on the Pivot program, bundling mobile phone, home phone, broadband and digital cable services in one package.

Now more than a year after the program launched, Cox and the other cable companies have dropped out of the plan. Cox Arizona parent company, Cox Communications, used the Phoenix metropolitan area as one of its first markets to offer the service.

That service never took off in Arizona, much like other markets serviced by Time Warner and ComCast. The three partnered to invest $100 million into the Pivot program, matching Sprint’s investment.

Cox Arizona president Ivan Johnson said the move was not about signing up enough customers, but rather the difficult operational issues that arose when trying to combine multiple billing entities.

“We think it was a very tremendous effort,” he said. “What we learned was that operationally it was very difficult because you are using four other billing systems. It was like this five-headed monster and getting decisions made was very difficult.”

Pivot in Arizona was intended to be a test for a larger deployment in other Cox markets. Although the company did make a local media push, television advertisements were limited, said Andrea Katsenes, Cox Arizona spokeswoman.

Cox Arizona has not ended its wireless backbone partnership with Sprint, however. Those customers who signed up with Pivot were offered Sprint contracts.

But the horizon is still bright, Johnson said. The parent company was the biggest winner amongst cable companies bidding for slices of the 700-megahertz-wireless-spectrum auction in March. Cox earned 22 licenses in nine states throughout the country for its $306.6 million bid.

Although the winning licenses did not include Arizona, Johnson said the state to be at the forefront of next generation of bundled services.

“We’re working on some big things that bundle multiple services including wireless, but we don’t have a time line or expectations for when it’s going to happen,” he said.

Ty Young can be reached at ty@aztechnews.net.