Esser Speaks

Cox Communications President Pat Esser delivered a keynote address at GlobalComm in June. Here are a few excerpts from his speech: "What troubles me most about the competitive landscape today isn’t the Bells’ fiber-to-the-home promises or their deep discounting of DSL service. It’s not DirecTV‘s launch of local high-definition TV channels. We’ll contend with this as we always have—by delivering high quality products, superior customer service and a great value proposition. "What troubles me most are the competitive battles over the rules of the game being waged in Washington DC and state capitals. "The very same act that paved a path for cable to enter the phone business also contained a road map for the Bells to deliver video. Did they forge ahead? Upgrade their networks? Ready the back office? And roll out new services? "No. *** "Cox is ready to duke it out for customers and compete in the marketplace. We’ve been doing it successfully for years. I’m all for a less cumbersome, streamlined franchising process that reflects modern competitive realities. But it must apply immediately and evenly to everyone, regardless of the delivery platform. If Verizon, AT&T and others want video franchises, they should be granted—on the same terms as cable." PEOPLE SCTE Mourns Zelenka The SCTE announced the unexpected death on Monday, May 29, of SCTE VP of Finance Patricia Zelenka. She is directly survived by her husband Donald J. Zelenka and son James D. Zelenka. Zelenka was approaching her 20th anniversary as an SCTE staff member. Kassas Honored Cedar Point Communications announced that Founder and EVP George Kassas has been named co-winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year award by the New Hampshire High Technology Council. Fellows to Shift Comcast announced that EVP and CTO David Fellows will leave his full-time position in January and become a part-time advisor and consultant to the company. He has served as Comcast CTO for four years, and held similar positions with AT&T Broadband, MediaOne Group, RoadRunner and Continental Cablevision. Letter Thieves Make Clean Cuts A recent edition of CT’s Pipeline detailed the problem of thieves stealing field equipment in Florida. (See related story, page 13.) Theft of cable equipment isn’t new, as this letter illustrates. I worked in a cable system near Savannah, GA. We have seen cases of equipment theft in our area, as well. Typically the thieves seem to be mostly interested in the active devices. We have seen most theft in new built subdivisions where the cable has been newly spliced and many times before the plant is activated (so you get a big surprise when you turn it on). Surprisingly enough, the physical damage is minimal. They must have ped keys, and the cables were always cut clean. Daniel Harvey, Hargray