As the competition in the cable television business heats up, it was inevitable that one company would emerge as the dominant player. In Rhode Island, that company is Cox Communications of West Warwick. Cox came on-line in Rhode Island in 1981 with just 40,000 subscribers, but growth has come rapidly in the past two years. Today, it has 150,000 subscribers in the state, and that figure is expected to reach 240,000 by the end of 1996 when its acquisition of Tele-Communications, Inc. is completed. By 1997, Cox will have about 85 percent of the Rhode Island cable television business.
"It is unprecedented that one provider would form a virtually statewide cable network," says Craig L. Watson, vice president and state manager, in remarking about the special qualities of Rhode Island.
And the best is yet to come, according to Watson. He promises that a huge expansion for Cox's Rhode Island operation, estimating that the company will invest more than $100 million in the state for such improvements as fiber optic cable networks and digital compression technology. Such innovations will make possible what many visionaries have been predicting: 500-channel transmission, interactive television and videos-on-demand. This upgrade of Cox's network will allow it to offer more channels, and improved picture quality and signal reliability.
"As a corporation, we are committed to these improvements," says Watson. "We want to make things happen in Rhode Island."
The fiber optic upgrade project has already been completed in Warwick and West Warwick, with Cranston, Johnston, Scituate, Burrillville and Gloucester just around the corner. Other areas of the state will be upgraded over time.
Through this upgrade, Watson says Cox will provide all three telecommunications services -- voice, video and data. This means, for one thing, that Cox's fiber optic cable will be able to carry high-speed data over its cable lines. Using an inexpensive device called a splitter, home subscribers will be able to break off a data line from their cable TV signal. Personal computer users who currently use a modem for tele-computing with on-line services will be able to appreciate this new service. Using Cox's cable, they can tele-compute at speeds up to 1,000 times faster than the fastest modem on the market today. That would save the user money in paying for time on on-line services, Watson points out, plus make tele-computing faster and more convenient. He says this new data transmission service will experience rapid deployment in 1997.
Finally, Cox has just entered into a partnership with Sprint to enter the national market to provide wireless telephone services. But these services -- called personal communication services, or PCS -- will be different from what is available today from traditional cellular carriers. Cox's PCS will be operated using digital technology, making sound quality much higher than cellular services currently available.
Right now, Cox is committed to local and public programming. The company has five local bureaus in the state to help subscribers produce local programming to be aired over public access channels. The company now has nine staff members to help subscribers produce their programs, but Watson says that will be increased to 13 staff members in the near future.
"We want to be responsive to our customers' interests," says Watson. "These locations at the town and community level are an important part of what we provide to our customers."
As part of its program of local origination, Cox now airs the University of Rhode Island men's basketball games at no expense to its customers. It also offers such public interest programs as "Straight Talk with Linc Almond," in which the Governor talks about statewide issues; a local talk show called "Rhode Island Weekly"; and a show called "Ocean State Agenda," that focuses on a different town in the state each week.
But its technology that drives Cox's dominating presence in Rhode Island and gets Watson the most excited. Even though competition in the cable and telephone industries is going to get increasingly intense, Watson feels his company is in the best position to benefit Rhode Island residents. So far, that judgment is hard to argue with.