Cox Hires Wireless Network Execs

Cox Communications is charging ahead with its mobile service plans, and it has named new members to its wireless leadership team.

The company has appointed Raj Beri to VP of wireless product operations and Dane Dickie as executive director of wireless product development. Both are veterans of the wireless industry, as Beri spent more than 10 years in various positions at AT&T Wireless and Dickie held several positions with BellSouth, which is now AT&T.

"Raj will play a key role in the success of our wireless initiative and brings a tremendous depth and breadth of wireless industry experience and leadership to the team," said Stephen Bye, Cox's VP of wireless, in a statement.

The cable company spent more than $300 million in an FCC auction to acquire portions of the 700-MHz spectrum last year, and it plans to use that to offer mobile content and services. The spectrum is considered "beachfront property" because it can penetrate most walls and has a large footprint.

Cox's mobile services are initially believed to include wireless voice communication and mobile applications that enable users to control their digital video recorders on the go. Future features could include the ability to stream shows on a handset.

"Wireless is straight from our offensive playbook," said Cox president Patrick Esser. "It's an important innovation, a logical business evolution, and it will maximize the immense power of Cox's greatest asset -- the last mile of robust broadband networks."

The move to mobile comes as Cox is facing increased competition from the likes of AT&T and Verizon. The telecommunications companies have well-known wireless, home Internet, and home phone capabilities, but the companies are also slowly rolling out television with AT&T's U-Verse and Verizon's FiOS services.

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