ATLANTA - Cox Communications, Inc. announced today that its winning bundle of video, Internet and telephone services is continuing to improve customer satisfaction and reduce customer defection even in the face of increasing competition. Total monthly customer churn for the second quarter was 2.5%, the lowest in the company's history.
"Cox proved long ago that a unified bundle of video, Internet and telephone services would be compelling to consumers, and today our competitors are striving to imitate us," said Pat Esser, president. "However, being a winning bundler is about a lot more than just offering customers multiple services. It's about managing the network, the services and the customer care to ensure quality. It's also about making the sum of the bundle greater than the value of the individual services. No one does that better than Cox, and we're seeing the benefits in our hypercompetitive environment."
Cox is increasing its reach of multiple services to households within its footprint and is selling more services to each household. Illustrating the success of Cox's bundle strategy is the company's subscriber gains since selling cable systems representing nearly 1 million subscribers to Cebridge Connections in May 2006. Just over a year later, Cox has made up the loss of RGUs due to the sale, with more than 14 million total RGUs as of June 30.
"After all these years, it's still the bundle, baby," said Joe Rooney, chief marketing officer. "With Cox Digital Telephone, advanced video and Internet services available in our markets, our arsenal is stocked. And, our aim is clear with the use of marketing sciences to establish relationships with more of the households in our footprint as well as to deepen the existing relationships by getting more customers to bundle. It's about approaching customers with the right offers to meet their needs."
At the close of the quarter, Cox increased total residential customer relationships by 2% versus the same quarter in 2006; more than 60% of customers subscribed to more than one service, and more than 28% of customers were fully bundled with all three services. Key metrics for the quarter:
Results were driven by a focus on customer care, which is a hallmark of the company. Cox recently received highest honors in J.D. Power and Associates' 2007 Residential Regional Telephone Customer Satisfaction StudySM in the Northeast, Southwest and West Regions. Cox has topped the West Region for five consecutive years and is the leader in the Northeast and Southwest for two years running. The company's own proprietary research shows increasing customer satisfaction driven by perceptions of greater value thanks to bundling. Triple-play customers are 44% more satisfied with the "value for the money" Cox provides than are video-only customers, and they are 40% less likely to consider switching to Cox competitor.
"Our business is more competitive than ever. We're fully immersed in the phone business and successfully taking customers away from the former Bell companies," said Esser. "We're also facing stiff video competition from satellite and telco competitors. To win, we'll differentiate ourselves as the most trusted provider in our markets - the company whose network is most reliable, the company who makes complex services simple to use, and the company whose employees are all focused on delivering the best customer experience."
Acerca de Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company with more than 6 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, as well as integrated wireless services in partnership with Sprint (NYSE: S). Cox Business Services 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.
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David Grabert
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David.Grabert@Cox.com
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