Cable provider Cox to get out of wireless business

The wireless ecosystem lost a competitor yesterday, with Cox Communications' announcement that it will stop selling its wireless phone service Nov. 16, and work toward ceasing service all together March 30, 2012.

“Cox is working to make this transition as seamless and easy as possible for our customers,” Len Barlik, executive vice president of product development and management, said in a Nov. 15 statement.

Cox Wireless customers, who have multiple Cox services, will receive a $150 credit on their bill for every disconnected phone, the company said. It will also waive all early termination fees, and customers can keep their devices and will continue to receive Bundle Benefits — discounts offered for combined phone, television and Internet service — for two years.

In 2008, the nation's third-largest cable company purchased spectrum from the FCC and announced it was building its own wireless network. From there, it embarked on the "most painfully slow wireless network rollout in history," as one writer put it (Unfiltered: Are the cable providers cut out to be mobile network operators?). The network didn't launch until late in 2010, and even then it relied on Sprint's CDMA network.

In the spring, Cox announced it was ditching its go-it-alone plans and would essentially resell Sprint's CDMA 1X voice and EV-DO data service (Unfiltered: Cox launches wireless (without the network) in more markets).

Now, citing a "lack of wireless scale necessary to compete in the marketplace, the acceleration of competitive 4G networks [and] the inability to access iconic wireless devices" — aka, be able to sell the made-for-Sprint iPhone — Cox says it's getting out of the 3G business and scraping all plans for LTE.

Cable companies, in addition to finding it difficult to enter new markets, are having their old turf threatened by online viewing resources such as Hulu (CP: Hulu: The complicated matter of the money-maker's next play) Netflix and Amazon's Instant Video store.

Cox says it has approximately 6 million customers, and will extend special offers to its wireless users, helping them in their transition to another wireless provider.

“We understand the importance of wireless to the customer experience,” said Barlik. “Cox is looking at several options to continuously increase the value of our bundle of services.”

Cox said its television, high-speed Internet, residential phone and commercial services won't be affected by the change.