Following earlier trial work, Cox Communications has launched Cox2M, an Internet-of-Things unit that offers connected asset services that are targeted to business customers and emerging opportunities with smart cities.
Cox said the unit’s new offering provides turnkey services that monitors and tracks commercial assets and inventory, including vehicles and power lines. Service examples include automotive lot management, smart cities (lighting transit, etc.), connected healthcare, and fault detection. Cox believes that Cox2M’s service line can be used to serve several types of industries spanning transportation, cities and campuses, energy companies and utilities, agriculture, retail and real estate.
Corporate cousin Cox Automotive is an early adopter of Cox2M’s services, as its Manheim vehicle marketplace has teamed on a custom app that delivers real-time tracking of vehicles across auction lots. Cox said that solution was piloted last year and is to be implemented across the U.S. and Canada to connect more than 500,000 vehicles using a Low Power Wide Area IoT network. Other Cox Automotive brands are also considering the platform for additional applications, Cox said.
“Cox connects millions of people and businesses today, and we’re constantly thinking about how to deliver powerful new outcomes through that experience,” Sujata Gosalia, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Cox, said in a statement. “With Cox2M, we will play an even more significant role in supporting the smart businesses and smart cities of the future.”
Cox said Cox2M was incubated in its New Growth organization over the past two years. It’s led by Cox executive director Barak Weinisman.
Cox is also the latest cable operator to launch a unit focused on IoT opportunities. Comcast, for example, has launched machineQ, a unit that entered the early stages of its commercial rollout last year.
