School is in session, and so too are on-campus, IP-delivered multiscreen service options.
In the vein of Comcast’s new Xfinity On Campus and a platform being pushed by a startup called Philo, Cox Communications is also making some inroads with Campus Connect, a managed IP video service that is tailored for students and delivered via a school’s on-campus network.
Cox confirmed that Tulane University (New Orleans) and Creighton University (Omaha, Neb.) are on board. Creighton conducted a limited test of Campus Connect last year, and is making it available to the on-campus student body this fall, Cox spokesman Todd Smith said via email. Creighton went so far as to tweet about it. Tulane trialed it last year and has since rolled it out.
Cox said it made Campus Connect available to be sold in all of its markets in January 2014. “We’re actively talking to other universities,” Smith said.
It appears that Cox Connect is currently set up to deliver more than 50 live channels via IP to an array of devices. As explained by the service’s primer, Cox takes the schools’ bulk video subscription, used to provide in-residence cable TV, and makes it mobile by enabling authenticated access on PC browsers, iOS devices (iOS 4.3 or greater), and several Android-powered phones and tablets.
Like Comcast’s approach, Campus Connect relies on a dedicated fiber circuit to deliver video over IP to the campus network without intermingling with the school’s bandwidth for regular high-speed Internet access.
For more detail on Campus Connect, watch this video.
On the residential end, Cox has also rolled out an in-home live streaming app, originally called Cox TV Connect and now part of its more ambitious "Contour" platform, that delivers more than 100 channels.
