Cox Communications struck a deal with Nortel that will allow the telecom equipment provider to provide Cox business customers with network gear and tech support.

The agreement, which Cox Business announced at the 2008 Cable Show in New Orleans, will give all Cox customers access to a full range of Nortel's products, including its Business Communications Manager (BCM) hybrid IP PBX. Nortel will also provide Cox customers with a broad array of routers, Ethernet switches and wireless access points, Cox says.

Additionally, Nortel will work with Cox to market both companies' products and services directly to enterprise customers, and Nortel will take responsibility for installing its equipment onto Cox customer locations.

Cox and other U.S. cable providers have been working to aggressively expand their enterprise offerings over the past couple of years to compete with traditional telecom carriers such as Verizon and AT&T. Last year, research firm Vertical Systems Group ranked Cox as the fourth-largest business Ethernet services company in the country, with a market share of 8.9% nationwide. Fellow cable company Time-Warner Telecom, meanwhile, came in third place with a 13.7% share of the market nationwide.

Overall, Cox provides telecom services to more than 240,000 business customers in 18 different U.S. markets. While Cox had typically been associated with providing services to small and midize businesses in the past, the company now provides telecom services to multilocation enterprises, regional healthcare providers and government organizations.