Altafiber

File:CincinnatiBell.jpg is a registered historic building.]]

Cincinnati Bell was founded as the City and Suburban Telegraph Association on July 5, 1873. Founder Charles Kilgour had run the Cincinnati Street Railway with his brother John but became homebound after an accident and began running his business from home via telegraph. The City and Suburban Telegraph Association ran telegraph lines between homes and businesses beginning in 1873, three years before the invention of the telephone. In 1878, it gained exclusive rights to the Bell franchise within a {{convert|25|mi|adj=on}} radius of Cincinnati, becoming the first telephone exchange in Ohio and the tenth in the United States. It has substantially the same three-state incumbent local exchange carrier territory today. On August 21, 1877, it signed its first telephone customer, the Cincinnati Gas-Light and Coke Company (later known as Cincinnati Gas and Electric).{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Bell service is older than the telephone|first=Jeff|last=Suess|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=March 4, 2019|access-date=October 23, 2019|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/04/cincinnati-bell-service-older-than-telephone/3058242002/}}{{cite magazine|title=A salute to Cincinnati Bell|first=Frank E.|last=Smith|magazine=Cincinnati|publisher=Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce|date=December 1973|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOsCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4|via=Google Books}}

The company was renamed Cincinnati and Suburban Bell Telephone Company in 1903.

From 1930 to 1952, the company converted its exchanges from staffed switchboards to dial service. Seven-digit dialing was introduced in 1962. In 1968, electromechanical switching equipment was replaced by one of the first electronic switching systems. The company formally simplified its name to Cincinnati Bell in 1971.

In May 1999, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio awarded Cincinnati Bell Long Distance the right to offer local wireline telephone service in 55 counties outside its incumbent territory and the company began to resell business local phone service in these counties, in competition with incumbent carrier Ameritech.{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/1999/05/03/daily24.html | title=Bell to compete with Ameritech | work=American City Business Journals | date=May 6, 1999}}{{cite news | url=http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/1999/07/19/story8.html | title=Bell taking on Ameritech in Ohio markets | work=American City Business Journals | date=July 19, 1999}}

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 the traditional Cincinnati Bell name. The acquisition fell short of expectations due to intense competition and lackluster demand and left Broadwing with over ${{format price|2000000000}} in debt.{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2003/02/24/daily13.html | title=Broadwing sells broadband unit for $129M | work=American City Business Journals | date=February 23, 2003}} In 2004, the holding company divested the long-distance operation as Broadwing Corporation and changed its name back to Cincinnati Bell.

In 2002, Cincinnati Bell sold Cincinnati Bell Directory, consisting of its directory operations, to Spectrum Equity. The resulting company is named CBD Media. The sale marked the first time a former Bell System-affiliated company had sold off its directory operations. In 2003, when BellSouth exited the payphone market, some former BellSouth payphones in Kentucky were sold to Cincinnati Bell.

In 2017, Cincinnati Bell acquired Toronto-based OnX Enterprise Solutions for ${{format price|201000000}}.{{cite news |last = Moritz |first = Scott |date = July 10, 2017 |url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-10/cincinnati-bell-to-buy-hawaiian-telcom-onx-for-851-million |title= Cincinnati Bell to Buy Hawaiian Telcom, OnX for $851 Million |work = Bloomberg |access-date = October 25, 2017}} On July 2, 2018, Cincinnati Bell acquired Hawaiian Telcom Holdco, Inc., parent of local telephone company Hawaiian Telcom, for ${{format price|650000000}}.{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2018/07/02/cincinnati-bell-completes-acquisition-of-hawaiian.html |title=Cincinnati Bell completes acquisition of Hawaiian Telcom, Komeiji named president | first=Anna | last=Hrushka | work=American City Business Journals | date=July 2, 2018}} The Hawaiian Telcom acquisition grew Cincinnati Bell's fiber network to over {{convert|14000|mi||adj=pre|route}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/cincinnati-bell-s-onx-hawaiian-telcom-acquisitions-solidify-fiber-and-consulting|title=Cincinnati Bell's OnX, Hawaiian Telcom acquisitions solidify fiber and consulting capabilities, but investors expect execution {{!}} FierceTelecom|website=www.fiercetelecom.com|date=December 2017|language=en|access-date=2017-12-06}}

In September 2021, Cincinnati Bell was acquired by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/03/13/its-nowofficial-cincinnati-bell-acquired.html | title=It's now official: Cincinnati Bell acquired | first=Andy | last=Brownfield | work=American City Business Journals | date=March 13, 2020}}

On March 2, 2022, shortly after its acquisition by Macquarie, the company announced it would begin doing business as "Altafiber". The company's legal name, Cincinnati Bell Inc., was not immediately affected.{{cite web|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2022/03/02/cincinnati-bell-changes-name-altafiber/9333350002/|title=Cincinnati Bell changes name to Altafiber. Cincinnati will be going all-fiber, CEO says.|first=Randy|last=Tucker|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=March 2, 2022|access-date=March 2, 2022}}

File:CincinnatiBell (vectorized).svg-designed classic Bell logo until 2016.{{cite web|title=Reliable Home Phone Service from Cincinnati Bell|publisher=Cincinnati Bell|access-date=April 8, 2014|url=http://www.cincinnatibell.com/home-phone/}}]]

Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone (SNET) were the only two companies in the old Bell System in which AT&T Corporation only owned minority stakes. Therefore, neither was considered a Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) for regulatory purposes, restrictions placed on the Baby Bells did not apply to these two companies, and AT&T was not obligated to dispose of their ownership stakes in the companies. AT&T owned 32.6% of Cincinnati Bell until 1984, at which point the shares AT&T owned were placed into a trust and then sold.{{cite web|url=http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/att/1983/att_1983.htm|title=1983 Annual Report American Telephone & Telegraph Company- AT&T|access-date=2012-04-27|archive-date=2016-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305171751/http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/att/1983/att_1983.htm|url-status=dead}}

Cincinnati Bell was, from 2006 to 2022, the only former Bell System company that continued to publicly do business under the "Bell" name.{{cite news|title=IN-DEPTH: A new calling for the last of the Bells|first=Josh|last=Pichler|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=August 5, 2013|access-date=April 8, 2014|url=http://www.cincinnati.com/article/20130804/BIZ01/308040014/|quote=Bell is the last of its breed, the only surviving regional Bell company still bearing the monicker of the telephone’s inventor.}} In July 2006, Cincinnati Bell removed the final iteration of the Bell logo—designed in 1969 by Saul Bass—from most of its corporate branding, leaving only a stylized wordmark. However, the company continued to use the Bell logo in promotional materials for residential landline and long-distance service{{cite web|title=Long Distance Calling|url=http://www.cincinnatibell.com/home-phone/long-distance/|publisher=Cincinnati Bell|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413213245/http://www.cincinnatibell.com/home-phone/long-distance/|archive-date=April 13, 2014|access-date=April 8, 2014}} until it adopted a new logo in 2016.

Cincinnati Bell's conventional telecommunications services are concentrated in markets where its subsidiaries have historically enjoyed incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) status. Since the 1870s, Cincinnati Bell Telephone has been the ILEC within a radius of approximately {{convert|25|mi}} from downtown Cincinnati. {{As of|2019}}, the three-state territory consists of:

• Hamilton County, most of Clermont and Butler counties, and a small part of Warren County in Ohio{{cite web|title=Telephone Service Areas|publisher=Public Utilities Commission of Ohio|date=February 14, 2018|access-date=October 23, 2019|url=https://www.puco.ohio.gov/emplibrary/files/Util/GIS/Telephone_Maps/Ohio_ILECs_and_Exchanges_Size_A.pdf}}
• Boone, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton counties in Kentucky {{cite web|title=Kentucky Exchange Boundaries|publisher=Kentucky Public Service Commission|date=August 30, 2007|access-date=October 23, 2019|url=https://psc.ky.gov/agencies/psc/images/lecbyexchange.pdf}}
• West Harrison, Indiana{{cite web|title=Southern Indiana|first=James|last=Bellaire|work=Telecom Indiana|date=February 13, 2017|access-date=October 3, 2019|url=http://telecomindiana.com/southernindiana.html}}

Beyond its ILEC territory, Cincinnati Bell Telephone additionally serves Mason, Lebanon, and the Dayton metropolitan area through its subsidiary Cincinnati Bell Extended Territories. Hawaiian Telcom, which Cincinnati Bell acquired in 2018, is the ILEC for the entire state of Hawaii.

OnX provides enterprise IT solutions in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom.

Cincinnati Bell has historically focused on traditional landline service, but in recent decades it has expanded into adjacent communications and entertainment services. {{As of|2017}}, legacy voice service makes up only a quarter of the company's revenue.{{cite news|title=Incoming Cincinnati Bell CEO: What's in a name?|first=Alexander|last=Coolidge|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=March 30, 2017|access-date=October 23, 2019|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2017/03/30/incoming-cincinnati-bell-ceo-whats-name/99731058/}}

Cincinnati Bell provides landline PSTN local and long-distance calling. In recent years,{{when|date=December 2024}} the company has seen subscriptions to these traditional services decline due to competition from cable and wireless providers.{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Bell's new broadband and energy ventures are all about survival|first=Sean|last=Buckley|work=FierceTelecom|publisher=FierceMarkets|date=2011-07-07|access-date=2011-09-12|url=http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/cincinnati-bells-new-broadband-and-energy-ventures-are-all-about-survival/2011-07-07}}{{needs update inline|date=December 2024}}

Cincinnati Bell offers Internet access to customers in its service area. Its primary competitor for broadband Internet access is Charter Spectrum Internet.

In late 2009, Cincinnati Bell started offering a fiber-optic communications (Internet, telephone, and IPTV) service called Fioptics, similar to the U-verse service offered by AT&T and the FiOS service offered by Verizon Communications.{{cite web |last=Arnason |first=Bernie |date=September 29, 2009 |title=Cincinnati Bell Makes GPON Moves, Follows FiOS Lead |url=http://www.telecompetitor.com/cincinnati-bell-makes-gpon-moves-follows-fios-lead/ |access-date=November 10, 2009}} Cincinnati Bell's Fioptics provides Internet at speeds from 5 Mbit/s up to 2 Gbit/s to over 500,000 homes in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The availability is limited to areas wired for Fioptics, and other Fioptics services are not required. In areas now covered by Fioptics, Cincinnati Bell no longer offers ADSL-only speeds greater than 5 Mbit/s.

{{As of|2019}}, Cincinnati Bell's fiber optic network extends nearly {{convert|16500|mi||adj=pre|route}}.

In 2011, Cincinnati Bell became the first telecommunications company to also provide retail energy service.{{cite press release|title=Cincinnati Bell Energy Launches Green Energy Service|publisher=Cincinnati Bell Energy (Business Wire)|date=2011-07-21|access-date=2011-09-12|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cincinnati-bell-energy-launches-green-energy-service-2011-06-21}} Through a partnership with Viridian Energy, Cincinnati Bell Energy competes with several other alternative electricity retailers for the power generation portion of customers' electricity bills. The subsidiary advertises that its service is entirely sourced from National Wind.{{cite web|title=Energy|publisher=Cincinnati Bell|access-date=October 23, 2019|url=https://www.cincinnatibell.com/shop-cincinnati-bell/energy/electric|archive-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407233400/https://www.cincinnatibell.com/shop-cincinnati-bell/energy/electric|url-status=dead}}

From 1998 until 2015, Cincinnati Bell Wireless (CBW) offered GSM wireless service in southeastern Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and northwestern Kentucky. It was sold at Best Buy, Circuit City (until 2009), Office Depot, and participating Kroger locations. It offered HSPA+{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Bell joins 4G parade with HSPA+ rollout|first=Phil|last=Goldstein|work=FierceWireless|date=July 6, 2011|access-date=December 27, 2014|url=http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/cincinnati-bell-joins-4g-parade-hspa-rollout/2011-07-06}} service in most of Hamilton County, Ohio, and parts of surrounding counties; EDGE{{cite web|title=Cincinnati Bell Wireless Network Policies|publisher=Cincinnati Bell Wireless|date=August 18, 2014|access-date=December 27, 2014|url=http://www.cincinnatibell.com/customer_support/consumer_information/network_management/wireless.pdf?v4|format=PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402130815/http://www.cincinnatibell.com/customer_support/consumer_information/network_management/wireless.pdf?v4|archive-date=April 2, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} service in Dayton and Oxford; and GSM service elsewhere. The local coverage area extended north to Celina and Urbana, east to Hillsboro, south to Corinth and Warsaw, and west to Batesville.{{cite web|title=Cincinnati Bell Wireless Coverage|publisher=Cincinnati Bell|access-date=December 27, 2014|url=http://www.cincinnatibell.com/wireless/coverage/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103114056/http://www.cincinnatibell.com/wireless/coverage|archive-date=January 3, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Cincinnati Bell's prepaid mobile phone products were sold under the same i-wireless brand as an unrelated service by locally based Kroger.{{cite web|title=i-wireless|publisher=Cincinnati Bell Wireless|access-date=December 27, 2014|url=http://www.i-ontheweb.com/|archive-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222233406/http://i-ontheweb.com/|url-status=dead}}

Cincinnati Bell made its first foray into wireless telephony around 1986, when it acquired a 45% stake in Ameritech Cellular. On February 2, 1998, Cincinnati Bell acquired 80% of AT&T Wireless Services's new Cincinnati-Dayton PCS network for over $100 million. Cincinnati Bell's subsidiary Cincinnati Bell Wireless was responsible for marketing and sales, while AT&T Wireless handled technical operations for the joint venture. Wireless service began by June in Cincinnati and by September in Dayton, eventually covering a 21-county area.{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Bell adding wireless|first=Mike|last=Boyer|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=February 4, 1998|access-date=March 29, 2015|url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1998/02/04/bus_wireless04.html|quote=Cincinnati Bell made its long-awaited entry into wireless communications Tuesday, acquiring 80 percent of AT&T Wireless Services' new Cincinnati-Dayton network for more than $100 million. ... Under the agreement, Cincinnati Bell Wireless will handle the business side of the venture, and AT&T Wireless will concentrate on the technical side of the digital Personal Communications Service (PCS) network. AT&T Wireless is building the network over 21 counties, stretching from Springfield south to the Interstate 75-71 split in Northern Kentucky and from Clermont County on the east to Lawrenceburg on the west.}}{{cite news|title=Bell will open 3 stores|first=Mike|last=Boyer|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=October 21, 1997|access-date=March 29, 2015|url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1997/10/21/bus_bell.html}}{{cite news|title=Company News; AT&T and Cincinnati Bell agree on wireless partnership|work=The New York Times|date=February 4, 1998|access-date=March 29, 2015|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/04/business/company-news-at-t-and-cincinnati-bell-agree-on-wireless-partnership.html}} When AT&T Wireless was purchased by Cingular, now known as AT&T Mobility, control of its 20% stake also passed to Cingular. On February 17, 2006, Cincinnati Bell took full control of CBW by purchasing Cingular's stake for $83 million. As a part of the deal, Cincinnati Bell and Cingular secured lower roaming charges on each other's respective GSM networks.{{Cite web|url=http://cingular.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=442|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018203238/http://cingular.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=442|url-status=dead|title=AT&T Corporate Information - News Room|archive-date=October 18, 2006}}

On April 7, 2014, Cincinnati Bell announced plans to sell its wireless spectrum and other assets to Verizon Wireless, as part of a planned emphasis on enterprise and entertainment services such as Fioptics.{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Bell to Sell Wireless Spectrum Licenses to Verizon Wireless|first=Erin|last=McCarthy|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=April 7, 2014|access-date=April 8, 2014|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303456104579487120660710530?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303456104579487120660710530.html}} Cincinnati Bell Wireless ended service on February 28, 2015, and the company's retail locations began selling Verizon products.{{cite web|title=Cincinnati Bell Wireless: We have some exciting news!|publisher=Cincinnati Bell|year=2014|access-date=December 27, 2014|url=http://www.cincinnatibell.com/cbw/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228000423/http://www.cincinnatibell.com/cbw/|archive-date=December 28, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

Like other Bell System–affiliated companies, Cincinnati Bell published a series of local telephone directories, beginning in 1879. In 2002, it spun off these operations as CBD Media.

Cincinnati Bell originally operated a chain of Cincinnati Bell Phone Center locations until 1992, when it sold the retail chain to AT&T.{{cite news|title=Index|work=The Wall Street Journal|year=1992|volume=2|page=1462|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5oyAQAAIAAJ|via=Google Books|quote=Cincinnati Bell Inc. agreed to sell its telephone equipment leasing and Phone Center Store business to AT&T Co. AT&T will provide telephone lease service to Cincinnati Bell's residential lease customers and operate AT&T Phone Centers in the Cincinnati and northern Kentucky region beginning Feb 1, 1993.}} It reentered the retail space in 1998 with three Store@Cincinnati Bell retail locations. {{As of|2018}}, the company operates nine Cincinnati Bell Stores.{{cite web|url=http://www.cincinnatibell.com/customer_support/locations/?zipcode=45202&miles=100000&store=y|title=Cincinnati Bell Store & Payment Locations|publisher=Cincinnati Bell|access-date=August 28, 2018}}

Cincinnati Bell's headquarters are located in the Atrium Two building on 4th Street in Downtown Cincinnati.{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Bell to bring 600 more employees downtown|first=Josh|last=Pichler|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=June 9, 2014|access-date=October 23, 2019|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/josh-pichler/2014/06/09/cincinnati-bell/10232369/}}{{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/11/02/cool-places-look-inside-cincinnati-bells-new-hq.html | title=Cool Places: Look inside Cincinnati Bell's new HQ | first=Andy | last=Brownfield | work=American City Business Journals | date=November 2, 2015}}

The company's former headquarters and telephone exchange on 7th Street is known as the Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Next door is a data center operated by CyrusOne, a former Cincinnati Bell subsidiary.{{cite web|title=Cincinnati – 7th Street Data Center|publisher=CyrusOne|access-date=October 23, 2019|url=https://cyrusone.com/locations/ohio/7th-street/|archive-date=September 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907140707/https://cyrusone.com/locations/ohio/7th-street/|url-status=dead}} It originally opened in 1975 as Cincinnati Bell's central Switching Center.

Cincinnati Bell owns the naming rights to the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar line that traverses the downtown area. In August 2016, Cincinnati Bell paid ${{format price|3400000}} to rename the line for 10 years.{{cite press release|title=Cincinnati Bell Named Sponsor of the Cincinnati Streetcar|url=http://www.go-metro.com/news/715/58/Cincinnati-Bell-Named-Sponsor-of-the-Cincinnati-Streetcar|website=Go-metro.com|publisher=SORTA|date=August 18, 2016|access-date=September 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911063055/http://www.go-metro.com/news/715/58/Cincinnati-Bell-Named-Sponsor-of-the-Cincinnati-Streetcar|archive-date=September 11, 2016|url-status=dead}} From 2007 to 2014 Cincinnati Bell also sponsored the annual Cincinnati Bell/WEBN Riverfest, one of the largest fireworks displays in the Midwest.{{Cite news|last=Murray|first=Sydney|date=May 27, 2015|title=New sponsor for WEBN Fireworks|language=en|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2015/05/27/new-sponsor-webn-fireworks/28012751/|access-date=2019-10-23}}

• Ohio Bell

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Official website|https://www.cincinnatibell.com}}
• [https://bellsystemmemorial.com/bellopercomp-cincinnatibell.html Bell Operating Companies (from Bell System Memorial)]

{{Cincinnati Bell}}

{{Bell System}}

{{Macquarie Group}}

{{United States telephone companies}}

{{US mobile phone companies}}

{{Internet service providers of the United States}}

{{CATV USA}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Bell System

Category:Internet service providers of the United States

Category:Broadband

Category:American companies established in 1873

Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1873

Category:Companies based in Cincinnati

Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange

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Category:Communications in Kentucky

Category:Communications in Ohio

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