In “Call the Cable Guy,” BusinessWeek highlights the trend of businesses switching their telecom services from their phone company to Cable—especially among small- and medium-size companies.

“Staying connected is crucial for Melanie McBride, owner of McBride Communications, a three-person public-relations company in Scottsdale, Ariz. In 2004, fed up with her phone company's lousy service, she switched her voice and data service to her cable provider, Cox Communications. McBride now pays about $200 a month for two phone lines, a fax line, a broadband Internet connection, and cable-TV service. She couldn't be happier. Before the switch, McBride felt she was getting lost in the shuffle. The flurry of telecom mergers didn't increase her confidence, either. Now she feels she's getting the white-glove treatment with Cox.”

As the article points out, Cox took the top spot in J.D. Power & Associates’ study of small and midsize businesses’ satisfaction with their data providers. Another cable company, Time Warner Cable, came in second, followed by RBOCs BellSouth and Verizon. The article attributes the Bells’ slide in popularity in part to consolidation. “At the same time that the larger companies were merging, many competitively priced phone providers that catered to smaller companies went out of business.” Click here for the full article, although you’ll need a BusinessWeek subscription to access the whole thing.