Altafiber
| Company type | Public (formerly) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | July 5, 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
| Founder | Charles Kilgour |
| Headquarters | Cincinnati , United States |
Area served | Greater Cincinnati area; Hawaii; parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana; United States, Canada, United Kingdom (enterprise IT solutions) |
| Products | Landline telephone, fiber-optic Internet, IPTV services, enterprise IT solutions, long distance calling services |
| Owner | Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (since September 2021) |
| Website | www |
Cincinnati Bell, Inc., doing business as Altafiber, is a regional telecommunications service provider based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The company delivers landline telephone, fiber-optic Internet, and IPTV services through its subsidiaries, such as Altafiber Home Phone and Hawaiian Telcom, which serve as the primary local exchange carriers for the Greater Cincinnati area and Hawaii. Other subsidiaries focus on providing enterprise-level information technology solutions and long distance calling services.
Established in 1873 originally as a telegraph enterprise, Cincinnati Bell was once a franchisee of the Bell System. During the 1990s, it broadened its offerings to include Internet access and mobile communications but divested its wireless division in 2014 to prioritize fiber-optic and enterprise services. Following its acquisition by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets in September 2021, the company rebranded to Altafiber in March 2022.
History
The origins of Cincinnati Bell trace back to July 5, 1873, when Charles Kilgour founded the City and Suburban Telegraph Association. Beginning with telegraph connections between residences and businesses, the firm obtained exclusive rights to operate the Bell franchise within a 25-mile radius of Cincinnati by 1878, marking Ohio’s inaugural telephone exchange. Its first telephone subscriber was signed in 1877, and it has since maintained a comparable three-state incumbent local exchange carrier footprint.
In 1903, the company adopted the name Cincinnati and Suburban Bell Telephone Company and continued modernizing operations throughout the mid-1900s. This included replacing staffed switchboards with dial service by 1952 and implementing electromechanical switching systems by 1968. The name was shortened to Cincinnati Bell in 1971.
By May 1999, Cincinnati Bell Long Distance extended its reach beyond its traditional territory by entering local wireline markets across 55 Ohio counties, competing against Ameritech. In the same decade, it acquired IXC Communications and rebranded as Broadwing Communications to develop a nationwide transmission network. However, fierce competition resulted in liabilities exceeding $2 billion, leading to the sale of its long-distance business in 2004 and a return to operating under the Cincinnati Bell name.
In 2002, Cincinnati Bell divested its directory publishing operations to Spectrum Equity, creating CBD Media — marking the first directory sale by an ex-Bell System affiliate. The following year, it acquired former BellSouth payphone assets in Kentucky after BellSouth withdrew from that market.
Strategic acquisitions further strengthened Cincinnati Bell’s market presence: in 2017, it purchased Toronto-based OnX Enterprise Solutions for $201 million; then in 2018, it acquired Hawaiian Telcom Holdco, Inc. for $650 million, significantly expanding its fiber network to over 14,000 route miles.
In September 2021, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets completed its acquisition of Cincinnati Bell. Soon after, on March 2, 2022, the company announced it would operate under the "Altafiber" brand to emphasize its commitment to fiber-optic technologies while retaining its corporate legal name.
Connection to the Bell System
Among former Bell System entities, Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone (SNET) stood out because AT&T held only minority ownership stakes in them. As a result, neither company was designated as a Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC), and AT&T faced no obligation to divest its holdings. Up until 1984, AT&T possessed a 32.6% share in Cincinnati Bell, which was subsequently placed into a trust and sold.
Between 2006 and 2022, Cincinnati Bell was the sole former Bell System company to publicly maintain the "Bell" brand name. In July 2006, the company phased out the Saul Bass-designed Bell emblem from most of its corporate identity, retaining only a stylized wordmark. The traditional Bell logo remained in use for residential landline and long-distance advertising until a new logo was introduced in 2016.
Service Area
Cincinnati Bell’s primary telecommunications offerings target regions where its subsidiaries hold incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) status, mainly within approximately 25 miles of downtown Cincinnati. As of 2019, this tri-state service area encompasses:
- Ohio: Hamilton County, the majority of Clermont County and Butler County, as well as part of Warren County
- Kentucky: Boone, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton counties
- Indiana: West Harrison
Beyond its ILEC territory, Cincinnati Bell Extended Territories provides services to locations such as Mason and Lebanon in Ohio and the Dayton metro region. The acquisition of Hawaiian Telcom in 2018 broadened Cincinnati Bell’s ILEC coverage to include the entire state of Hawaii.
OnX, a subsidiary, offers enterprise IT solutions throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Services
Cincinnati Bell has transitioned from traditional landline offerings toward a more diversified portfolio that includes communications and entertainment services. By 2017, legacy voice services accounted for roughly one-quarter of the company's total revenue.
Landline Service
While continuing to supply local and long-distance PSTN landline connections, Cincinnati Bell has experienced a decline in subscriptions due to competition from cable and wireless providers.
Internet Access
The company delivers broadband Internet service primarily competing against Charter Spectrum within its operational regions.
Fiber Optics
Since 2009, Cincinnati Bell has marketed Fioptics, a fiber-optic network providing Internet, telephone, and IPTV services similar to AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS. Fioptics offers speeds ranging from 5 Mbit/s up to 2 Gbit/s to more than 500,000 residences in the Cincinnati metropolitan vicinity. Service availability is confined to Fioptics-equipped zones where ADSL speeds exceeding 5 Mbit/s are no longer supported. By 2019, the fiber infrastructure extended nearly 16,500 route miles.
Electricity
In 2011, Cincinnati Bell ventured into retail energy markets through its subsidiary Cincinnati Bell Energy by collaborating with Viridian Energy. This initiative competes in electricity retail by supplying power generated entirely from wind sources, representing a distinctive diversification within the telecommunications sector.
Wireless telephony
Between 1998 and 2015, Cincinnati Bell Wireless (CBW) delivered GSM mobile services throughout southeastern Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and northwestern Kentucky. Its offerings were available at retailers including Best Buy, Office Depot, and select Kroger outlets. CBW provided HSPA+ coverage primarily within Hamilton County, Ohio, EDGE service in the Dayton and Oxford areas, and GSM network access reaching Celina, Urbana, Hillsboro, Corinth, Warsaw, and Batesville. Prepaid wireless plans were marketed under the i-wireless brand.
Cincinnati Bell's involvement in wireless communication began in 1986 with a 45% ownership in Ameritech Cellular. In 1998, the company acquired an 80% share of AT&T Wireless Services' Cincinnati-Dayton PCS network for more than $100 million. This acquisition led to a joint venture where Cincinnati Bell Wireless took charge of marketing and sales, while AT&T Wireless managed technical operations. By late 1998, the network extended across 21 counties. Following Cingular's (now AT&T Mobility) acquisition of AT&T Wireless, Cincinnati Bell bought out Cingular’s remaining 20% stake in CBW for $83 million in 2006. This move granted full ownership and resulted in reduced roaming fees between the two entities.
On April 7, 2014, Cincinnati Bell declared its intention to sell its wireless spectrum and related assets to Verizon Wireless to concentrate on enterprise and entertainment services such as Fioptics. CBW officially ended its operations on February 28, 2015, with retail locations transitioning to Verizon products.
Directories
Since 1879, Cincinnati Bell produced local telephone directories and later spun off this division as CBD Media in 2002.
Retail presence
Initially managing a series of Cincinnati Bell Phone Centers, the company divested this retail chain to AT&T in 1992. It reestablished a retail footprint in 1998 by opening three Store@Cincinnati Bell locations and had expanded to nine Cincinnati Bell Stores by 2018.
Downtown Cincinnati presence
Cincinnati Bell’s corporate headquarters are situated in the Atrium Two building on 4th Street within Downtown Cincinnati. Its former headquarters and telephone exchange facility on 7th Street—known as the Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building—is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearby stands a data center operated by CyrusOne, a former subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell, which originally opened in 1975 as the company’s primary Switching Center.
The firm secured naming rights for the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar system downtown through a $3.4 million agreement spanning ten years beginning in 2016. From 2007 until 2014, Cincinnati Bell served as the sponsor for the annual Cincinnati Bell/WEBN Riverfest, one of the largest fireworks festivals in the Midwest.