Cox Communications is adding diagnostic capabilities into its data network that could lead to a managed services offering for some of its home networking customers.

In June, Cox started selling data gateways with DOCSIS 3.0 and 802.11n from Cisco and Netgear directly to its customers. While the nation's third-largest cable operator has a long history of selling home networking gear to its subscribers, the new gateways could lead to Cox dipping its toe into managed services for home networking.

"We're figuring out whether to move to more of a managed services model with the gateways," said Seth Hogan, Cox's vice president of strategy and product development . "We're putting some capabilities into our network that give us the ability to do some remote diagnostics and remote repair. We could offer customers the option for us to manage their home networks for some kind of recurring fee.

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