Cincinnati Bell reaches partial negotiated rate case agreement.

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 1995--Cincinnati Bell Telephone (CBT) has reached a negotiated agreement with three of the four parties who raised objections to CBT's rate case presently before the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

``We have listened to our customers and feel the negotiated agreement is in the best interests of our customers and the company,'' said Barbara J. Stonebraker, CBT senior vice president of external affairs.

The negotiated agreement allows customers in three counties -- Gallatin, Grant, and Pendleton -- a choice to either take extended area service or keep their local area service. Customers choosing extended area service would be able to call into and receive calls from Kentucky counties in the CBT operating area without paying long distance charges.

If they keep their local area calling service, calls to and from the northern counties would be a long distance call. The base local area service charge in those counties would increase to $10.11 from the present $9.11. Base extended area service would be $26.05.

The original application made extended area service mandatory and was revenue neutral, in other words, the lost long distance revenue that is currently generated from calling into and out of the area would be made up from the rates charged for extended area service.

The modified agreement will not seek to make up all of the revenue that will be lost because of customers electing to keep their local area service. That amount is estimated at $1.7 million annually.

Other areas of compromise reached in the agreement include a reduction of $1.8 million in Carrier Common Line Charges -- a fee paid by long distance companies to connect to CBT's network, and an agreement with TKR cable increasing the rates TKR pays to attach their cable to CBT poles.

``Gallatin, Grant, and Pendleton counties are projected to be areas of rapid growth in the near future,'' Stonebraker said. ``The proposal is important to the economic development of the area.''

Judge Executives and State Representatives in the area are in favor of the agreement.

The Kentucky Attorney General's Office, the fourth party in CBT's case, has not settled. Objections of the Attorney General will be heard at an evidentiary hearing scheduled for March 22, in Frankfort. Cincinnati Bell Telephone provides modern telecommunications products and services in a three-state area including portions of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The company has 879,000 access lines and has customers in an area covering more than 2,400 square miles.

Cincinnati Bell Telephone is a subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CSN).

CONTACT: Cincinnati Bell Telephone, Cincinnati

Kyle A. Hill, 513/397-1240