Sitting on yesterday's CTO panel, Cox Communications Chief Technology Officer Chris Bowick said the RBOCs are “feeling pressured” to compete with MSOs for video marketshare given Cable's significant inroads in telephony; hence their bold claims regarding the yet-to-be-proven benefits of their fiber rollouts and video services. When asked what’s a better network: Cable HFC (hybrid fiber-coax) or telco FTTP (fiber to the premise), Bowick chuckled and reminded industry professionals of Cox’s success in pioneering the full bundle of services over HFC. He cited Cox's Orange County, Calif., system, where the company's phone service has penetrated 40 percent of the market in some places. Michael LaJoie of Time Warner Cable was less diplomatic in his response, saying “coax is better–because it actually exists.” And while both men agreed competition will actually be good for the industry, Bowick said MSOs “have never taken [the telcos] lightly.” Bowick revealed the effects of Hurricane Katrina gave Cox the opportunity to consider implementing FTTP in the company's network rebuild in New Orleans. However, after extensive research, Bowick said it became clearer than ever that HFC was still the best choice.