Less than six months after it was acquired by private equity firm Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, regional phone company Cincinnati Bell said it would rebrand as “Altafiber,” a name it says reflects its continued commitment to build out its fiber network to connect customers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Cincinnati Bell has a long history -- it was founded in 1873 as a telegraph service -- and will continue to keep that moniker as a corporate entity. But in a press release explaining the name change, CEO Leigh Fox said that the company believes that fiber is the future, and its new name proves that.

“The word ‘alta’ is rooted in a word that means elevated, and that’s what Altafiber is doing: We’re providing an elevated connection through fiber and raising the standard of service to our customers and the communities we serve as we continue to build out our fiber network and deliver broadband connectivity that is essential to accessing education, healthcare, and employment opportunities,” Fox said in a press release. 

The company will transition to the Altafiber brand over the next 6-9 months. The branding change does not impact Altafiber’s other units, Hawaiian Telcom and CBTS, its IT Services business.

The company said it has invested more than $1 billion in its fiber network, and offers Fiber-to-the-Premises (“FTTP”) connectivity to about 60% of the homes in Greater Cincinnati. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, a unit of Macquarie Asset Management, took the company private in September in a deal valued at about $2.9 billion, and has put forth plans to accelerate its fiber buildout to cover 100% of homes and business in the Greater Cincinnati area in the next five years. The company recently announced partnerships with Greene County in Ohio, and Greendale, Indiana, to build fiber to homes in those areas. More recently, Altafiber announced that it has established a regional headquarters in the Dayton, Ohio market, including a retail store and business office in that city.

“The investment in fiber, our geographic expansion, and our partnership with Macquarie mark a clear inflection point for the company. And it’s all incredibly exciting and positive for our employees and for the communities and customers that we serve,” Fox said in the press release. 

He added that while the company’s name is changing, its commitment to the community, its customers and leadership will continue.

“We are proud of the Cincinnati Bell name, and it will always be a part of our history,” Fox said. “We are still the local hometown company, with 2,000 employees across Greater Cincinnati who are dedicated to connecting our customers with what matters most through technology for the next 150 years.”

About two months after saying it was pursuing the creation of a new joint venture to build out fiber networks within and adjacent to its existing footprint, Cable One officially unveiled the effort -- Clearview Fiber -- adding that it has signed on investment firms GTCR, Stephens Capital and The Pritzker Organization as financing partners for the JV.

Cable One said it was pursuing the JV -- which includes its Clearwave Communications fiber assets and certain fiber assets of Hargray Communications -- in November. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing at the time, Cable One said the JV also included certain unaffiliated third-party investors, but declined to name them.

According to a press release January 3, Cable One said the Clearwave Fiber venture is committed to “provide fast and reliable connectivity via FTTP [fiber-to-the-premises] internet to underserved markets and will allow for more rapid expansion of fiber internet to homes and businesses in small cities and big towns.”

Cable One owns a majority of the JV, and said investors will make “substantial cash investments” to support its expansion. Clearwave Fiber will be led by executive chairman Michael Gottdenker and CEO David Armistead, both of whom were part of Hargray’s executive leadership team from 2007 until its 2021 sale to Cable One.  

“This strategic investment will help accelerate the deployment of fiber-based broadband services to a range of markets, including underserved areas of the country,” Gottdenker said in a press release. “Our team is motivated by our shared core values of customer service and improving lives through connectivity and is excited to bring fast and reliable Clearwave Fiber broadband to homes and businesses across the country. We are thrilled to welcome GTCR, Stephens, and TPO to the Clearwave Fiber family and look forward to our continued partnership with Cable One.”

GTCR has been a long-time investor in the cable space and has been a frequent partner of Cable One in various deals. In 2019 it purchased Vyve Broadband with Mega Broadband Investments, selling a 45% interest in the company to Cable One about a year later for $547.1 million.  GTCR formed Rural Broadband Investments in 2013, buying several small cable operators -- including New Wave Communications  -- and was sold to Cable One in 2017. 

Pritzker and Stephens Capital were investors in Hargray, which Cable One bought in 2021. 

Cable One did not quantify how large the investment in Clearwave Fiber will be, but said its own contributions to the JV represent about 3% of its consolidated revenue in Q3 2021.  According to its financial statements, Cable One had Q3 total revenue of $430.2 million, meaning its investment in the Clearwave JV is about $13 million.

“We look forward to supporting and sharing in Clearwave Fiber’s growth over the coming years while remaining focused on our primary business, increasing penetration rates, integrating recently acquired companies and driving higher margins and greater free cash flow,” Cable One CEO Julie Laulis said in a press release. “We did not take lightly our choice of partners in this transaction and are excited to be working with like-minded individuals who share our core principles.”

Bank Street Group acted as lead financial advisor to Cable One, and Ernst & Young advised on the financial and operational carve-out of Clearwave Fiber. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP acted as legal advisors to Cable One. Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Covington & Burling LLP acted as legal advisors to the investors on this transaction. ■

Frontier Communications said it will expand its fiber-optic network to an additional 280,000 consumers in Connecticut  in 2021, the initial phase in what it says is a multi-year expansion effort.

The moves come about three months after Frontier successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a cleaner balance sheet and plans to capitalize on broadband demand in its service territories. In its reorganization plan, Frontier recognized the lack of fiber-based broadband in many of its markets, pledging to bridge that gap by investing as much as $1.4 billion in its network. 

As part of the state approval process of that restructuring plan, in February Frontier agreed to expand its Connecticut fiber network to about 100,000 homes over four years. The most recent expansion plans appear to build on that pledge substantially. 

Frontier said it will offer 1 Gigabit per second speeds in the state, as well as offer more simplified service offerings. The company said that means no annual commitments or data caps, waived activation fees (an $85 savings), and a three-year price guarantee on monthly charges for Gig service. Frontier also offers a free $100 Visa Card or Ring Video Doorbell with Gig service and contract buyouts are available.   

“This infrastructure investment stems from Frontier’s belief that access to high-speed broadband is critical to building a digital society, enhancing community inclusion, and helping the environment,” Frontier Connecticut senior vice president Julie Murtagh said in a press release. “I am confident communities will see Frontier in a new way once they experience the power of fiber-optic technology.”

Frontier said the communities where the fiber expansion is currently underway include: Andover, Ansonia, Bethel, Bloomfield, Bolton, Branford, Bridgeport, Bristol, Cheshire, Coventry, Danbury, Derby, East Haven, Enfield, Farmington, Hamden, Hartford, Hebron, Manchester, Marion, Meriden, Middletown, Middletown , Milford, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Newington, North Haven, Norwalk, Norwich, Plainville, Plantsville, Quaker Hill, Rockfall, Shelton, Southington, Stamford, Trumbull, Uncasville, Vernon, Rockville, Wallingford, Waterford, West Hartford, West Haven, Wethersfield, and Woodbridge.

Looking to shore up its business services offerings, CenturyLink has expanded symmetrical gigabit fiber service to four cities in Southern Utah.

The move encompasses the communities of St. George, Cedar City, Hurricane and Washington, Utah, where select businesses can now receive symmetrical fiber-to-the-premises connections. By scaling its fiber network, CenturyLink said, it can offer "competitive pricing" on IP-based fiber bundles combining data, Internet and voice service for business customers.

CenturyLink also is offering business-caliber service-level agreements, cloud-based applications and 24/7 customer care; additionally, customers can opt to have all their IT and communication services managed by CenturyLink.

"[T]he availability of competitively priced fiber services can be a game changer" in a location like Southern Utah, both serving existing businesses and attracting new ones, Jon Pike, the mayor of St. George, said. "Fiber connectivity helps give businesses the ability to use new cloud technologies, create job opportunities and attract capital investment."

Centuryink last year rolled out 1-Gbps service to business and residential customersin Salt Lake City and its surrounding communities.