Cox Communications and Verizon Wireless have extended their cable and mobile services bundle to the MSO’s Gulf Coast region, which includes South Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle.
Cox and Verizon Wireless are offering Visa prepaid debit cards valued up to $100 to customers who opt for the services combo. Early on, 15 Verizon Wireless Communications stores and nine Cox Solutions Stores in the region are selling the cable/mobile packages.
"This new relationship will continue to build upon Cox's strong brand reputation for video, Internet and home phone services and Verizon Wireless' national brand identity for its 4G LTE wireless services," said Jacqui Vines, senior vice president and general manager of Cox's new Southeast Region, in a statement. "By working together, our two companies can bolster the value of our services and address our customers' desires for greater mobility and flexibility in the way they connect with others and use Cox products and services."
The co-marketing pact comes out of a multifaceted service bundling deal struck by Cox and Verizon Wireless in December 2011 that included the sale of Cox's Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum to the mobile carrier for $315 million. Earlier, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks sold their respective AWS spectrum to Verizon Wireless for a grand total of $3.6 billion, and also forged co-marketing relationships with the mobile carrier.
Cox Communications and Verizon Wireless have already launched their cable and mobile services bundles in Phoenix and southern Arizona, Las Vegas, parts of California, Kansas, Nebraska, as well as Northwest Arkansas and the Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla.
Before the Verizon Wireless deal, Cox tried to sell an MSO-branded mobile service that rode Sprint Nextel’s 3G network, and had started to build out its own Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. But Cox pulled the plug on that plan in the fall of 2011.
