Cox Faces HDTV Set-Top Shortages
Effort To Boost Digital-Penetration Rate Is Depleting Inventory
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 2/6/2008 6:47:00 AM
Cox Communications’ stash of high-definition set-tops is running low in at least three markets, a problem the operator characterized as a “brief issue” stemming from recent efforts at boosting its digital-cable penetration rate.
A customer-service representative for Cox’s Kansas/Arkansas system said there is a one- to two-week delay in getting an HD set-top or HD DVR, while a sales rep in Orange County, Calif., said there is up to a two-week wait for HD DVRs pending a shipment of new units from Motorola.
In New England, which serves Rhode Island and parts of Connecticut, a Cox agent said it will be “weeks” before Motorola HD set-tops are available.
Earlier this week Verizon Communications confirmed that its HD set-tops and DVRs are in short supply, a shortfall the telco blamed on surging demand. Motorola currently is the sole supplier of set-tops to Verizon.
Multichannel News called Cox's general information numbers for those markets, inquiring about HD set-top availability.
Cox director of media relations David Grabert said the delays are the result of the operator’s successful initiative to convert analog cable customers to digital service.
“We did better than projected in this area and this has created a brief issue in terms of set-top box inventory which we have taken steps to resolve,” Grabert said in an e-mailed statement.
Cox’s digital penetration rate across all systems was 56% at the end of September 2007.
Asked to comment on Cox’s HD set-top inventory issues, Motorola external communications manager Anya Chambers said, “From our perspective, demand for HD is strong and we continue to work with all our customers in order to address their needs.”
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