Cox Communications has picked Starent Networks' multimedia core networking platform for the 3G wireless network the cable operator is in the process of building out.
Cox's 3G network will use Starent's Packet Data Serving Node and Home Agent to provide data and multimedia services, including content filtering, network-based traffic optimization, application detection and optimization, and security.
"We are pleased with the core network experience that Starent provides," said Stephen Bye, Cox's vice president of wireless. "As we near our wireless launch, continuous visibility into our network remains key in ensuring a high performance customer experience."
Cox last fall announced plans to launch mobile-phone services this year, initially in partnership with Sprint Nextel. The MSO is building its own 3G network, using the spectrum it purchased in the Federal Communications Commission's Advanced Wireless Spectrum auction.
Starent, based in Tewksbury, Mass., counts Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Alltel among its customers. The company's products have been deployed by more than 95 mobile operators in more than 40 countries.
According to Starent, its 3G mobile broadband platforms are designed to allow mobile operators to migrate their networks to next-generation platforms without a "forklift upgrade." Cox has said it will test Long Term Evolution (LTE), a 4G standard being adopted by AT&T, Verizon and operators outside the U.S.
In addition to the AWS spectrum it owns, Cox paid $304.6 million for 22 licenses to spectrum in eight states in the 700-MHz band in the FCC's digital TV spectrum auction in March 2008.
