Cox Business enhances Ethernet wholesale capabilities through CENX exchange

Cox Business, out of the largest U.S. cable MSOs, is one of the most aggressive Ethernet providers but by becoming a member of Ethernet exchange provider CENX, it will be able to enhance its wholesale and even retail service capabilities.

Initially connecting in CENX's Los Angeles Carrier Ethernet Exchange location this month, the relationship mainly centers around providing more wholesale services to carriers that need last mile connections to Cox's on-net buildings.

Jay Clark, director of carrier product and sales operations, Cox Business, while recognizing that the Ethernet exchange concept is still in a nascent stage, sees it as another "tool in the toolkit" to extend its wholesale Ethernet services to other carriers that need access to a particular building.

"In some instances, we may have enough traffic to warrant a local or dedicated or Network to Network Interconnection facility, while in other instances we may have a smaller carrier that might have a need to get to some of our buildings in some of our markets and may not have the need put in a full blown dedicated interconnect," he said. "This is a way for us to say we can provide you connectivity to those locations and we can meet you at this exchange location if this easy and is another way to enable us to expand the offering."

Although Cox Business is consistently recognized by Vertical Systems Group as the fourth largest US-based retail Ethernet provider, wholesale Ethernet services--especially the wireless backhaul segment--continues to be a growing area for the service provider.

Since Cox has built dedicated fiber links to CENX, potential customers could link to Cox's network without having to incur the cost of establishing a dedicated interconnect arrangement. In addition, the CENX exchange provides service level monitoring and performance visibility.

But this is not just solely a U.S.-centric play. Clark said that by the CENX connection could also enable it to sell wholesale services to international carriers that need interconnection for their respective multi-national corporation (MNC) clients.

"The other thing the Ethernet exchange does is it opens up some new international interconnections where international carriers may have some landing stations in some of these larger cities, but not in some of the areas where we have cable services," Clark said. "It gives us the opportunity to connect to them at the exchange and extend our last mile footprint to other providers that might not have it in a facility in one of our local metros."

For more:
- see the release here

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