June 21, 2007

Cox Orange County Takes System of the Year Award

By Jonathan Tombes

Communications Technology presented Cox Communications, Orange County, California, with its System of the Year award during the SCTE Awards Luncheon on Wednesday.

This annual award recognizes a system whose achievements in broadband deployment and delivery of new services serve as a benchmark in the industry for technical capability, engineering expertise, and service.

Accepting on behalf of the system was James Garcia, supervisor of network planning and engineering for Cox Orange County.

Orange County helped write the book on cable telephony a decade ago and, along with other Cox Western systems, has consistently earned high marks for its voice service, such as those measured by J.D. Power & Associates. The system also wins points for its fiber optics prowess and its very strong employee satisfaction rankings.

Within Cox Communications, Orange County boasts exceptionally high numbers for the penetration of voice services and record low numbers for employee turnover. It has an exemplary reputation for a sound physical plant, consistently in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Cox Orange County assumed a leadership role in the MSO's extendible optical network initiative (EON) and has executed an innovative point of presence (POP) strategy, enhancing its position as a provider for commercial services in the region.

The system delivers commercial broadband and telecom services to about 13,000 businesses in central and south Orange County. One such customer, Capistrano unified school district, worked with Cox earlier this year to upgrade its 1.5 Mbps connectivity between its district office and 56 campuses to 150 Mbps.

The higher speed connectivity enabled the school district to consolidate servers, reduce equipment and operational costs and increase workforce efficiency.

The sponsor of the award this year is Camiant.

Communications Technology also has recognized three Top-Tier Systems: Comcast Boston; Cablevision, NY; and MidContinent Communications, Sioux Falls, SD. The four systems will be featured in the August issue of the magazine.