Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications have held discussions in regard to swapping systems in California and have also tested the waters on a possible broader alliance.
Reuters, citing two unidentified sources, reported that Time Warner Cable and privately held Cox – which are the nation’s second- and third-largest cable operators, respectively – have held discussions for several months, although negotiations tapered off last month.
Reuters reported that the two cable operators could renew their talks in the near future.
Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable have adjoining systems in San Diego, while Time Warner Cable has a large system in Los Angeles, and Cox has one in Orange County.
Over the years, Cox’s Orange County operation has been one of the cable operator’s more progressive systems, with early rollouts of voice and other advanced services. Late last year, Cox announced that Orange County was also one of the test markets for its own wireless and mobile data service.
While Cox and Time Warner Cable both declined to comment on the Reuters story, it’s hard to imagine that Cox would be willing to swap out its Orange County property to Time Warner Cable.
As for the broader “alliance” between the two, the Reuters story speculated that Time Warner Cable and Cox were considering combining their resources to better compete against Comcast. Even with the addition of Cox’s subscribers, Time Warner Cable would still trail Comcast, but it would be enough to surpass DirecTV’s number of subscribers.
