Cox Business, the enterprise services division of the Atlanta-based telecom giant, is growing at a fast clip – the division’s customer base is approaching 250,000 and is on target to earn $1 billion in revenue in 2010, according to figures provided by the privately-held company, which says Cox Business is its fastest-growing unit.
The company recently named Philip Meeks, a 28-year veteran of the telecommunications industry, as its new vice president for Cox Business. Meeks spent two decades at MCI – “before it was Worldcom,” he is quick to note – and also has worked for AT&T, Southern Bell, and his own company, Channel Solutions Inc. During a visit last week to Rhode Island – one of Cox’s top markets – Meeks sat down with PBN to talk about where he sees opportunities for growth, and expressed optimism despite the tough business climate.
PBN: Where do you see the most potential for growth for Cox Business Services?
MEEKS: Certainly, I want to see us exceed our $1 billion revenue target for 2010. The other thing that is important is increased relevancy to our customers so that we’re helping them run their businesses more efficiently.
PBN: Where do you see room for growth in Rhode Island specifically?
MEEKS: Rhode Island is a market that’s a mature market, so the way we grow it is by pursuing additional opportunities to sell our customers more things, as well as having a bigger bundle to sell. The Rhode Island staff is being penalized by the success they already have. But we’ll be leveraging the great relationships we already have here.
PBN: What’s coming next in terms of technology?
MEEKS: The biggest factor is getting that last bit of bandwidth to your laptop. There also have been speed upgrades recently – managed IP, voice management services. We’re also the first cable company in Rhode Island to offer Metro Ethernet. That has been one of the pioneer points for Cox, and I think it shows the commitment that Cox [headquarters in] Atlanta has made to Rhode Island.
It also will be execution – and we were just recognized by J.D. Power for our support of data customers.
PBN: You often hear about Cox being a great place to work. Why is that?
MEEKS: That’s a great question, and I can answer that as someone who has been there for 90 days – it’s a company that is very, very focused on its employees and giving back to the community. We really insist at the senior level on giving back to the community. We’re also very environmentally-friendly – there are mandates on energy use – it is the right thing to do and it also reduces costs.
It’s Cox’s culture – a culture of placing value on the employees. People call it “the Cox family,” and it really is a family-oriented company. We’re privately-held, and that is an advantage.
PBN: Are you worried about the impact the tough economy will have on your business?
MEEKS: I see it as more of an opportunity. To quote Jack Welch of G.E., the time to grow more share is in a downturn. We’ll grow more share in a downturn, building on our relationship with our customers. We saw this in the early part of this decade. In a downturn, small companies are looking for a partner who can help them become successful in a challenging environment, and if we can do that we should be winning additional customers as a downturn rolls out.
Cox Communications – a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortune 500 company Cox Enterprises – is a broadband communications and entertainment company with more than 6 million business and residential customers nationwide, including about 450,000 basic cable subscribers in New England. Its Cox Business division provides voice, data and video services to more than 240,000 business customers nationwide. Additional information is available at www.cox.com and www.coxbusiness.com.
