COX Communications, Inc.: Bellwether to the Bells?

Implications: Whoever gets fiber to the customer first wins, or whoever gets future-proofed revenue-producing services to the customer wins, however one wants to say it.  Once the CATV MSOs begin seriously investigating FTTP, PON or other fiber-based final customer loop decisions, things are heating up on the CATV MSO/RBOC frontier.  This means all vendors, telco, CATV, and the like need to heed the noise of future business opportunities where there were not any before.

Analysis: Whoopee.  First Verizon starts invading AT&T's Uverse footprint, then starts selling 50mbs data to FIOS residential customers, and now Cox Communications, is apparently seriously beginning to survey the market for the proper fiber fit to take fiber to CATV customers' homes.  They are having to do this already in some RFOG situations, where the RBOC or RLEC is providing FTTP to the new greenfield developments, and they have no choice to be able to compete.  However, for Cox to be considering overbuilding their brownfield footprints is something radical and exciting altogether.  What ONU/PON equipment will work with the RF legacy system they have in place today?  Or will they begin to look more like a telephony play and change to an IP based system, virtually changing everything they own?  Probably not, but we should all open our eyes and ears and begin to look at the CATV MSOs a little differently, wet nose, sideways stare, and tongue hanging out.  Perhaps, there is business for fiber box makers, fiber cable folks, fiber management players, splitter guys, IPTV chipmakers, and so on.  Anyway, it all bears more than a cursory glance at a nice article. Kudos to COX!  Wonder how long this infection will spread?