Cincinnati Bell
Encyclopedia
Cincinnati Bell is the dominant telephone company
for Cincinnati, Ohio, and its nearby suburbs in the U.S. states of Ohio
, Indiana
and Kentucky
. The parent company is named Cincinnati Bell Inc. Its incumbent local exchange carrier
(ILEC) subsidiary
uses the name Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company LLC, and Cincinnati Bell Wireless provides mobile phone
services. Other subsidiaries handle services such as payphone
s and long distance calling. Since the 2000s, Cincinnati Bell has diversified into other utilities, such as IPTV
and household electricity
.
. In 1878, it gained exclusive rights to the Bell franchise within a 25-mile (40-km) radius of Cincinnati; it has substantially the same ILEC territory today: straddling a 3-state
area.
Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone were the only two companies in the old Bell System
that were owned independently of AT&T
(AT&T held only minority interests in these two companies); therefore, neither is considered a Regional Bell Operating Company
(RBOC). AT&T held 27.8% interest in Cincinnati Bell before 1984. In 1998, SNET was bought by SBC
, an RBOC, but Cincinnati Bell has remained independent.
During the 1990s, Cincinnati Bell acquired a nationwide transmission network formerly known as IXC Communications and changed its corporate name to "Broadwing Communications," although the local telephone operations continued to operate under their traditional name. In the 2000s, the holding company divested the long-distance operation as Broadwing Corporation and changed its name back to Cincinnati Bell.
Cincinnati Bell is the only American company that continues to actively promote itself under the "Bell" name. As of August 2011, Cincinnati Bell has virtually ceased public usage of the last Bell logo, designed in 1969 by Saul Bass
, simply opting to use a stylized, shadowed version of its corporate name on its website. The company had already removed the Bell logo from its telephone directories' covers for some time. However, it still appears on older maintenance vehicles
The newsmagazine 60 Minutes
reported in 1989 that Cincinnati Bell cooperated with local police to wiretap local residents in search of alleged communist or criminal activity from 1972 to 1984. In a move widely criticized by consumer advocates, Cincinnati Bell was also the first phone company in Ohio to take advantage of a 2005 state law that lets phone companies raise rates without having to gain approval from state regulators.
Cincinnati Bell's original headquarters, the Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building
, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
PSTN
local and long-distance calling. In recent years, the company has seen subscriptions to these traditional services decline due to competition from cable and wireless providers.
in southeastern Indiana
, southwestern Ohio
, and northwestern Kentucky
.
CBW started as a joint venture with AT&T Wireless
. Originally, AT&T Wireless owned 20% of CBW. When AT&T Wireless was purchased by Cingular, now known as AT&T Mobility, control of the 20% stake passed to Cingular as well. On February 17, 2006, Cincinnati Bell took full control of CBW by purchasing Cingular's 20% ownership for $83 million. As a part of the deal, Cincinnati Bell and Cingular secured lower roaming charges network on each other's respective GSM networks.
An independent research provider tested Cincinnati Bell Wireless's service in Cincinnati
and Dayton
and found the company to have the best wireless network in 2005 and 2006.
Cincinnati Bell Wireless ended the year 2007 with 571,000 wireless subscribers.
is through its ZoomTown ADSL service. ZoomTown customers still connect to the Internet through an Internet service provider
. Typically, ZoomTown is used in conjunction with Cincinnati Bell's ISP, Fuse, although other local ISPs are available. ZoomTown's ADSL technology currently offers three speeds of 5 Mbit/s and 768 kbit/s downstream. ZoomTown started service in 1999. Its primary competitors for broadband Internet access are Time Warner Cable
's Road Runner
and Insight Communications cable Internet services in the Ohio and Kentucky markets, respectively. Cincinnati Bell also offers a service called ZoomTown Plus that bundles Internet access with news, reference, and entertainment content, provided though Synacor. Cincinnati Bell has started offering Zoomtown Internet at speeds from 5 Mbit/s up to 100 Mbit/s in conjunction with its FiOptics servies. The availability is limited to areas currently wired for FiOptics, and other FiOptics services are not required. They no longer offer speed of greater than 5 Mbit/s with only their ADSL services in areas currently covered by FiOptics.
s (Internet, telephone, and IPTV
) service called FiOptics, similar to the FiOS
service offered by Verizon Communications
. Cincinnati Bell is currently in the process of rolling out the new service to select communities in the Cincinnati area. FiOptics runs fiber to the home, augmented by fiber to the node.
for the power generation portion of customers' electricity bills. The subsidiary advertises that its service is entirely sourced from regional wind power
certified by Green-e Energy.
Telephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
for Cincinnati, Ohio, and its nearby suburbs in the U.S. states of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. The parent company is named Cincinnati Bell Inc. Its incumbent local exchange carrier
Incumbent local exchange carrier
An ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies , also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone...
(ILEC) subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
uses the name Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company LLC, and Cincinnati Bell Wireless provides mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
services. Other subsidiaries handle services such as payphone
Payphone
A payphone or pay phone is a public telephone, often located in a phone booth or a privacy hood, with pre-payment by inserting money , a credit or debit card, or a telephone card....
s and long distance calling. Since the 2000s, Cincinnati Bell has diversified into other utilities, such as IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
and household electricity
Mains electricity
Mains is the general-purpose alternating current electric power supply. In the US, electric power is referred to by several names including household power, household electricity, powerline, domestic power, wall power, line power, AC power, city power, street power, and grid power...
.
History
Cincinnati Bell started out as the City and Suburban Telegraph Company and was providing telegraph lines between homes and businesses in 1873, three years before the invention of the telephoneTelephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
. In 1878, it gained exclusive rights to the Bell franchise within a 25-mile (40-km) radius of Cincinnati; it has substantially the same ILEC territory today: straddling a 3-state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
area.
Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone were the only two companies in the old Bell System
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
that were owned independently of AT&T
American Telephone & Telegraph
AT&T Corp., originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. AT&T is the oldest telecommunications company...
(AT&T held only minority interests in these two companies); therefore, neither is considered a Regional Bell Operating Company
Regional Bell Operating Company
The Regional Bell Operating Companies are the result of United States v. AT&T, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company . On January 8, 1982, AT&T Corp. settled the suit and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating...
(RBOC). AT&T held 27.8% interest in Cincinnati Bell before 1984. In 1998, SNET was bought by SBC
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, an RBOC, but Cincinnati Bell has remained independent.
During the 1990s, Cincinnati Bell acquired a nationwide transmission network formerly known as IXC Communications and changed its corporate name to "Broadwing Communications," although the local telephone operations continued to operate under their traditional name. In the 2000s, the holding company divested the long-distance operation as Broadwing Corporation and changed its name back to Cincinnati Bell.
Cincinnati Bell is the only American company that continues to actively promote itself under the "Bell" name. As of August 2011, Cincinnati Bell has virtually ceased public usage of the last Bell logo, designed in 1969 by Saul Bass
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
, simply opting to use a stylized, shadowed version of its corporate name on its website. The company had already removed the Bell logo from its telephone directories' covers for some time. However, it still appears on older maintenance vehicles
The newsmagazine 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
reported in 1989 that Cincinnati Bell cooperated with local police to wiretap local residents in search of alleged communist or criminal activity from 1972 to 1984. In a move widely criticized by consumer advocates, Cincinnati Bell was also the first phone company in Ohio to take advantage of a 2005 state law that lets phone companies raise rates without having to gain approval from state regulators.
Cincinnati Bell's original headquarters, the Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building
Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building
Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building is a registered historic building in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was designed by Harry Hake, and listed in the National Register on April 20, 1995....
, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Landline service
Cincinnati Bell provides landlineLandline
A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
PSTN
Public switched telephone network
The public switched telephone network is the network of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. It consists of telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables, all inter-connected by...
local and long-distance calling. In recent years, the company has seen subscriptions to these traditional services decline due to competition from cable and wireless providers.
Wireless telephony
Cincinnati Bell Wireless (CBW) offers GSM wireless serviceMobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
in southeastern Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, southwestern Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and northwestern Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
CBW started as a joint venture with AT&T Wireless
AT&T Wireless Services
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., founded in 1987 as McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc., and now legally known as New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., formerly part of AT&T Corp., is a wireless telephone carrier in the United States, based in Redmond, Washington, and later traded on the New York...
. Originally, AT&T Wireless owned 20% of CBW. When AT&T Wireless was purchased by Cingular, now known as AT&T Mobility, control of the 20% stake passed to Cingular as well. On February 17, 2006, Cincinnati Bell took full control of CBW by purchasing Cingular's 20% ownership for $83 million. As a part of the deal, Cincinnati Bell and Cingular secured lower roaming charges network on each other's respective GSM networks.
An independent research provider tested Cincinnati Bell Wireless's service in Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
and found the company to have the best wireless network in 2005 and 2006.
Cincinnati Bell Wireless ended the year 2007 with 571,000 wireless subscribers.
Internet access
Cincinnati Bell offers Internet access to customers in its service area. Cincinnati Bell's Fuse Internet Service provides dial-up access, while its broadband accessBroadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
is through its ZoomTown ADSL service. ZoomTown customers still connect to the Internet through an Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
. Typically, ZoomTown is used in conjunction with Cincinnati Bell's ISP, Fuse, although other local ISPs are available. ZoomTown's ADSL technology currently offers three speeds of 5 Mbit/s and 768 kbit/s downstream. ZoomTown started service in 1999. Its primary competitors for broadband Internet access are Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
's Road Runner
Road Runner (ISP)
Road Runner High Speed Online is a US Internet service provider which provides cable Internet service over DOCSIS-compatible modems. A division of Time Warner Cable, it also contracts its service to other cable providers, often in competition with ISPs owned by local telephone...
and Insight Communications cable Internet services in the Ohio and Kentucky markets, respectively. Cincinnati Bell also offers a service called ZoomTown Plus that bundles Internet access with news, reference, and entertainment content, provided though Synacor. Cincinnati Bell has started offering Zoomtown Internet at speeds from 5 Mbit/s up to 100 Mbit/s in conjunction with its FiOptics servies. The availability is limited to areas currently wired for FiOptics, and other FiOptics services are not required. They no longer offer speed of greater than 5 Mbit/s with only their ADSL services in areas currently covered by FiOptics.
Fiber optics
In late 2008, Cincinnati Bell started offering a fiber-optic communicationFiber-optic communication
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information...
s (Internet, telephone, and IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
) service called FiOptics, similar to the FiOS
Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service which operates over a fiber-optic communications network. It is offered in some areas of the United States by Verizon Communications. Verizon was one of the first major U.S...
service offered by Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
. Cincinnati Bell is currently in the process of rolling out the new service to select communities in the Cincinnati area. FiOptics runs fiber to the home, augmented by fiber to the node.
Electricity
In 2011, Cincinnati Bell became the first telecommunications company to also provide retail energy service. Through a partnership with Viridian Energy, Cincinnati Bell Energy competes with several other alternative electricity retailersElectricity retailing
Electricity retailing is the final process in the delivery of electricity from generation to the consumer. The other main processes are transmission and distribution.- Beginnings :...
for the power generation portion of customers' electricity bills. The subsidiary advertises that its service is entirely sourced from regional wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
certified by Green-e Energy.
See also
- American Telephone & TelegraphAmerican Telephone & TelegraphAT&T Corp., originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. AT&T is the oldest telecommunications company...
- Bell SystemBell SystemThe Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
- Bell System divestitureBell System divestitureThe Bell System divestiture, or the breakup of AT&T, was initiated by the filing in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Justice of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. The case, United States v...
- Ohio BellOhio BellThe Ohio Bell Telephone Company is the Bell Operating Company serving most of Ohio. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.Its headquarters is the Ohio Bell Building at 750 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio...
External links
- Cincinnati Bell's corporate information site
- Cincinnati Bell Wireless Official website
- Cincinnati Bell Wireless coverage maps
- http://broadband.zoomtown.com/ZoomTown customer Web portalWeb portalA web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
] - ZoomTown Customer reviews at Broadband Reports
- ZoomTown/Fuse/Cincinnati Bell ISP Class Action Lawsuit Info