is the dominant
Telephone Company for
Cincinnati, Ohio and its nearby suburbs in
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 . Cincinnati Bell's
Stock is
Publicly Traded on the
New York Stock Exchange with the
Stock Symbol '''CBB'''.
Cincinnati Bell started out as the and was providing 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 one of three American companies that continue to actively promote itself under the "Bell" name. As of August 2006, Cincinnati Bell has ceased all public usage of the last Bell logo, designed in 1969 by
Saul Bass , simply opting to use a shadowed version of its stylized corporate name on its website. The company's telephone directories had already removed the Bell logo from its covers for some time.
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.
1 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 .
Cincinnati Bell Wireless (CBW) offers
GSM Wireless Service in southeastern
Indiana , southwestern
Ohio , and northwestern
Kentucky . The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell.
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 , 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, both companies (CBW, and AT&T Wireless/Cingular) secured lower roaming charges network on each others respective GSM networks.http://cingular.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=442
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. http://www.cincinnatibell.com/consumer/wireless/rate_plans/best_network/
Cincinnati Bell offers Internet access to customers in the 's
Road Runner cable Internet service. Cincinnati Bell also offers a service called ZoomTown Plus that bundles Internet access with news, reference, and entertainment content, provided though
Synacor . http://www.synacor.com/news_press_releases.php?id=122
