BendBroadband is a

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

and internet provider in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Based in Bend, it serves Central Oregon and also owns several television stations and a

data center A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...

. As of September 2014, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ele ...

. YSE: TDS a Fortune 500 company.

History

The company was founded as Bend TV Cable in 1955. Don Ries and Fred Hartman worked to start the company that started with three channels and charged $3.69 per month. Donald Tykeson bought the company in 1983. In 1997, the company, then known as Bend Cable Communications Inc., started providing internet service. It announced in 1998 it would expand its fiber optic network to Redmond and Sisters. By 2004, the company had moved to the BendBroadband moniker, and that year introduced high-definition video-on-demand to its system utilizing technology from nCUBE. In 2009, the company started a wireless network to provide internet and telephone service, which was upgraded to

LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a telephone and mobile broadband standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement *** LTE Advanced Pro * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers produced by Compaq * ...

in 2011. BendBroadband opened a data center, the Vault, in 2011. In February 2014, it sold off its LTE spectrum to

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

. The company sold itself to

Telephone and Data Systems Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. is a Chicago-based telecommunications service company providing wireless products and services; cable and wireline broadband, TV and voice services; and hosted and managed services to approximately 6 million cust ...

(TDS) for $261 million in May 2014. At that time the company had $70 million in annual revenues and 280 employees with Amy Tykeson as CEO.

Operations

BendBroadband serves 36,000 cable customers, 22,000 landline customers, and 41,000 internet customers. It also owns Zolo Media, which operates KBNZ,

KOHD KOHD (channel 18) is a television station in Bend, Oregon, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for Central Oregon. It is owned by local cable company BendBroadband alongside low-power CBS affiliate KBNZ-LD (channel 7). Both stations sha ...

, and COTV11, plus an advertising division. The company also owns a data center, the Vault, which is now part of OneNeck IT Solutions, a TDS Company.

References

{{reflist, 30em 1955 establishments in Oregon Companies based in Bend, Oregon Telecommunications companies established in 1955 Cable television companies of the United States Internet service providers of the United States