"DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN)" <DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu> (05/31/90)
After reading Pat's 1982 re-posting of the Digest, I was wondering as to why there is an "Ohio Bell" telco and at the same time a "Cincinnati Bell" company as well? I've wondered about this for some time, but never bothered to ask... Is Cincinnati surrounded by a lot of GTE's or other independents so there is some physical separation between the two? Or is the reason for the presence of two Bell Companies in the same state based on historical reasons? (I realize that Cincinnati Bell was never controlled by AT&T, and thus not a "real" Bell Company, yet why would AT&T perpetuate a system like this in Ohio when it would seem logical to incorporate Cincinnati Bell into the larger (?) Ohio Bell...?) Just curious... Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet (and just plain old "dreuben" to locals...! :-) ) [Moderator's Note: AT&T cannot 'incorporate' or take over what they do not own, any more than you or I can confiscate something belonging to someone else. They have never owned other than a small, minority share in Cincinnati Bell, despite the similar sounding 'Bell' name. At the same time, what was AT&T to call the company they *did* own in Ohio? PT]