Cox Business Ranks Above Several Regional Telcos on Vertical Systems Group's Exclusive Leaderboard

ATLANTA, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Business (www.coxbusiness.com) maintains its leadership position among U.S. business Ethernet providers, leading the cable industry and ranking above several incumbent telecommunications operators on Vertical Systems Group's 2008 Leaderboard. According to the market research firm, Cox Business is the fourth largest provider of business Ethernet services in the U.S. based on customer ports.

Cox Business became the first MSO (multiple system cable operator) to enter the top tier of U.S. business Ethernet providers in 2007 with a mid-year market share of 8.9 percent and that share climbed to 10 percent by 2008. The company attributes its aggressive growth to its successful history of delivering Ethernet services to customers served by both fiber and hybrid fiber coax (HFC).

"U.S. demand for business Ethernet service ports expanded at a rate of 43% during 2008, despite a challenging economy," said Rick Malone, principal, Vertical Systems Group. "Lower bandwidth costs and higher service availability make Ethernet a desirable networking technology for companies of all sizes seeking to increase network capabilities while driving cost out of the business."

Según  Vertical Systems Group (www.verticalsystems.com), the majority of business Ethernet deployment will come from the replacement of legacy services. Ethernet services provide a simpler, more transparent, lower cost and far more scalable transport option than many legacy technologies. Almost all existing customer Frame Relay circuits and more than half of Private Lines operate at a rate of 1.5 Mbps or less. With Ethernet services, businesses get multi-megabit to Gigabit transport speeds for a fraction of the cost per bit as compared to what they currently pay for their legacy services.

"Ethernet represents an ideal solution for many businesses, but traditional telecom carriers have been reluctant to steer customers away from higher billing legacy services," said Kristine Faulkner, vice president of product development and management, Cox Business. "Cox Business encourages IT directors, CIOs and business owners to investigate Ethernet as an opportunity to gain additional network flexibility and capabilities at a lower cost, particularly in the current economic environment."

As one of the leading Ethernet providers in the U.S., Cox Business is actively involved with technical associations, standards bodies and industry associations dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Ethernet services, such as the Metro Ethernet Forum. The Metro Ethernet Forum has certified Cox Business as MEF 9 and 14 compliant, the hallmark of carriers who deliver advanced Ethernet services. Cox Business also leads all providers of small and midsize business data solutions in customer satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Study(SM).

Cox Business provides voice, data and video services for nearly 250,000 small and regional businesses, including health care providers, K-12 and higher education, financial institutions and federal, state and local government organizations. Cox is currently the seventh largest voice service provider in the U.S., and provides more than 600,000 phone lines to business customers. For more information about Cox Business, visit www.coxbusiness.com o llamar al 1-800-396-1609.

Acerca de Cox Communications

Cox Communications is a multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company with 6.2 million total residential and commercial customers. The third-largest cable television company in the United States, Cox offers an array of advanced digital video, high-speed Internet and telephony services over its own nationwide IP network. Cox Business is a full-service, facilities-based provider of communications solutions for commercial customers, providing high-speed Internet, voice and long distance services, as well as data and video transport services for small to large-sized businesses. Cox Media offers national and local cable advertising in traditional spot and new media formats, along with promotional opportunities and production services. Cox Communications wholly owns and operates the Travel Channel. More information about the services of Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, is available at www.cox.com/espanol, www.coxbusiness.com y www.coxmedia.com.

SOURCE: Cox Communications

Web site: http://www.coxbusiness.com/