Each week Cox and other communications service providers confront a new, potentially seismic shift in regulation which could dramatically change the rules of the game in our industry. In a keynote address this week during the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) annual conference in Anaheim, Calif., Cox President Pat Esser discussed the company’s telephone regulation policy priorities and reminded commissioners that Cox has consistently supported telco-sponsored video franchising reform across the country, with one critical stipulation: that all video providers, not just new entrants, play by the same rules and regulations.

While highlighting the company’s history of being the first cable provider to deliver video, Internet and telephone service over a single broadband network, forever changing our business and fueling the digital revolution that consumers are experiencing today, Esser urged commissioners to adopt a technology-neutral approach for voice regulations, maintain appropriate circuit-switched interconnection protections and establish clear interconnection rights for voice over internet protocol. Click here for text of Esser’s speech.