In the spotlight: Brian Rose of Cox Communications

On customer choices among Ethernet options: It’s hard for customers to compare apples to apples today, based on how companies interpret CIR [committed information rate] and how they design and bill a service. That can drive a lot of confusion. We find that one benefit of staying close to what the MEF [Metro Ethernet Forum] specifies, along with staying close to what other MSOs are doing, we are trying to avoid confusion so we don’t re-invent the problems that customers have had with legacy services. I’m not saying companies are trying to introduce confusion deliberately. There are just so many interpretations when you introduce class of service and multiple classes of service that they can introduce confusion.

On the difference of working as an MSO: The MSO space is very collaborative. We are building on that with the MEF to incorporate all providers. It’s not just about standardizing the technical attributes of Ethernet. We need to be thinking about the marketplace as a whole--how we actually set up the billing structure, how you can look at one service and compare it apples to apples.

On Cox’s approach, market by market: In my viewpoint, Cox has been in business services for a while and has done a really good job, due to all of our markets, all of our systems out in the field. This is one of the benefits in the MSO space: Because of the decentralization of organizations, there is a lot more pioneering spirit out there. We are able to push the envelope.

On future growth: The second piece is talking about the fiber gap. We’re all excited about Ethernet and providing it. Most of the attributes assume you have fiber all the way to that building. When you come to the realization that only 13% to 14% of buildings are connected to fiber, you have to look at, ‘How else am I going to deliver those attributes?’ That is where cable starts to shine. When we start to look at our hybrid fiber-coax network, we can open up a ton more availability. That will drive a lot of our growth. We have a couple of systems which have been doing that, and we will be doing it system-wide. We have 18 systems – 12 are larger, six are smaller. We have launched eight of our larger markets and will launch the remaining four this year; then we will work with the smaller markets. We are starting to scale that business. The target market for that business, over coax, is really going after the frame relay base. The overwhelming majority of frame relay is T-1 and below. It is a nice value proposition to walk in with an offer that is Ethernet, that is scalable and that we can be competitive on price.