Cox Unveils New Telephone Services

Cable TV giant Cox Communications Inc. made a groundbreaking foray into telephone service, as it unveiled its first complete offering of video, voice and data services at a luxury apartment complex in southern Orange County. The Atlanta company’s offering of all three services over a single network is one of the first such efforts in the nation, and could provide a view of the future of the telecommunications industry after its deregulation by Congress last year. For the first time, cable and telephone companies are free to invade each other’s territories. The stakes are enormous, particularly for cable companies, which are under siege from satellite TV services and have seen subscription growth slow to a crawl in recent years. Cox selected the Sonterra complex in Foothill Ranch largely because it is at the heart of the firm’s effort to overhaul its network in southern Orange County with fiber-optic cable. All three services are carried over the same lines, and are covered in one monthly bill.