Consumers in Cincinnati for the first time will be able to purchase local, long-distance, personal communications, Internet and satellite TV service from one provider and receive their charges on one bill. The service begins May 1.
Cincinnati Bell Wireless, the subsidiary of local phone provider Cincinnati Bell Inc., recently put into place the last piece of its bundled service offering by purchasing 80 percent of AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s PCS network in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. It will offer PCS under the Cincinnati Bell name with an AT&T Wireless tagline.
The mechanics of putting together a bundled offering remains a thorny issue for many telecommunications companies in the United States. Most are working and spending large amounts of money on plans to build or revamp billing systems, integrate business units, develop customer-service strategies and discover to what extent customers want bundled telecom services.
Some analysts and market researchers still aren’t convinced consumers will overwhelmingly choose this option because carriers may not be able to offer the services at the right price point. Yet, the concept remains a goal for most telecommunications companies as deregulation gives them the opportunity to capitalize on more than their core businesses.
Based on studies, Cincinnati Bell Wireless said consumers in Cincinnati and Dayton are extremely interested in purchasing all of their telecommunications services from one company.
“We acquired [AT&T Wireless’ network] for over $100 million based on the response from focus groups and surveys. There’s tremendous value for bundled services,” said Rick Ellenberger, president and chief executive officer of Cincinnati Bell Wireless.
Without giving details of its marketing strategy, Ellenberger, a former MCI Communications Corp. executive, said the company plans to introduce creative and innovative bundled packages and implement new approaches to retailing to make the concept work.
More importantly, the company already has a strong base of Internet and DirecTV customers, as well as the backing of AT&T Corp. It is the largest Internet and DirecTV provider in its marketplace and as an AT&T agent has the ability to offer AT&T long-distance service on its own bills.
Ellenberger said Cincinnati Bell is able to do this because it was not subject to the same rulings the regional Bell operating companies were required to follow after the AT&T divestiture in 1983. “We were able to do some things we envisioned down the path,” said Ellenberger.
Cincinnati Bell Wireless also will have access to all of AT&T Wireless’ cellular and PCS Time Division Multiple Access networks, which eventually are expected to provide nationwide wireless coverage, as well as AT&T Wireless’ roaming agreements. Cincinnati Bell Wireless plans to purchase three of AT&T Wireless’ retail outlets.
Cincinnati Bell Wireless’ sister company, Cincinnati Bell Information Systems, quickly has moved to develop the phone operator’s integrated billing system, said Ellenberger. CBIS is one of the largest billing system providers to the wireless industry. In addition, Matrixx Marketing, a division of CBIS that outsources customer-care services, will handle customer service.
“We knew we were going to get into the wireless business. We started building a billing system in anticipation,” said Ellenberger.
Cincinnati Bell Wireless will compete with Ameritech Cellular Services Inc., AirTouch Communications Inc. and GTE Wireless in Cincinnati. It plans to offer bundled services this summer in Dayton.
