Cox Plans VOD Rollout for San Diego

Cable World, May 1, 2000 by Karen Brown

Cox Communication Inc. is the latest MSO to venture into the video on demand business and plans to offer the service in its San Diego market

Cox's first attempt at VOD using Concurrent Computer Corp.'s MediaHawk VOD system is now under way in a test market of employee homes. A limited, 2,000-customer rollout in San Diego may be possible by this summer, said John Hildebrand, director-multimedia technology for Cox.

The MediaHawk system allows viewers to watch, fast-forward, rewind and pause digital movies. The choice of San Diego for the first market was a combination of technical support and the strong digital assets, he said.

"It was really pretty easy," Hildebrand said. "Number one, it is one of our largest systems -- second only to Phoenix. Number 2, we have a pretty sharp unit out there with people who want to do it."

Partner Concurrent has been active in the VOD space, supplying the MediaHawk system to Time Warner's commercial rollouts in Tampa, Fla., the Oceanic Cable division in Hawaii and three trials within Comcast Corp. systems. That strong system management and back office elements led to Cox's selection of its Atlanta neighbor for VOD.

"We felt like they were the most mature product out there," Hildebrand said. "The fact that they have 35,000 set-tops out there in Oceanic was good."

Hildebrand said Cox is confident the service can be expanded to other markets, where it can supply incremental revenue and strengthen customer retention.

"We believe in the business model. We believe video on demand is a highly compelling application and one our customers will be excited about," Hildebrand said. "We can't find a reason not to move forward with it."

For Steve Nussrallah, president/CEO of Concurrent, this latest deal should erase the word "trial" from the VOD vocabulary.