Description of Business and Accounting Policies	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]	Description of Business and Accounting Policies Description of Business — Cincinnati Bell Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries ("Cincinnati Bell", "we", "our", "us" or the "Company") provide diversified telecommunications and technology services. The Company generates a large portion of its revenue by serving customers in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio and the islands of Hawaii. An economic downturn or natural disaster occurring in these, or a portion of these, limited operating territories could have a disproportionate effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows compared to similar companies of a national scope and similar companies operating in different geographic areas. The Company had receivables with one customer, Verizon Communications Inc., which made up 18% of the outstanding accounts receivable balance at December 31, 2018. At March 31, 2019, no individual customer exceeded 10% of the outstanding accounts receivable balance. Revenue derived from foreign operations was approximately 5% and 6% of consolidated revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Basis of Presentation — The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations, other comprehensive income, financial position and cash flows for each period presented. The adjustments referred to above are of a normal and recurring nature. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to SEC rules and regulations for interim reporting. The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018 was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year or any other interim period. Use of Estimates — Preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to various regulatory and tax proceedings, lawsuits, claims and other matters. The Company believes adequate provision has been made for all such asserted and unasserted claims in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and outcomes that are not predictable with assurance. Business Combinations — In accounting for business combinations, we apply the accounting requirements of Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 805, “Business Combinations,” which requires the recording of net assets of acquired businesses at fair value. In developing fair value estimates for acquired assets and assumed liabilities, management analyzes a variety of factors including market data, estimated future cash flows of the acquired operations, industry growth rates, current replacement cost for fixed assets, and market rate assumptions for contractual obligations. Such a valuation requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, particularly with respect to the intangible assets. The Company reports in its consolidated financial statements provisional amounts for the items for which accounting is incomplete. Goodwill is adjusted for any changes to provisional amounts made within the measurement period. See Note 4 for disclosures related to mergers and acquisitions. Leases - The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception based on the facts and circumstances present. In lease transactions where the Company acts as the lessor, the lease component is accounted for in accordance with ASC 842, and the non-lease component is accounted for in accordance with ASC 606. Although separation of lease and non-lease components is required, certain practical expedients are available that release the Company from this requirement. Adoption of the practical expedient allows the Company to account for each lease component and the related non-lease component together as a single component provided that the timing and patterns of revenue recognition for the components are the same and the combined, single unit of account would be classified as an operating lease. The Company's operating leases for certain services that include Customer Premise Equipment, including handsets and set-top boxes, have lease and non-lease components. In these arrangements, management has concluded that the non-lease components are the predominant characteristic and as a result the Company has elected to account for these arrangements as one single non-lease component recorded as "Revenue" on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations in accordance with ASC 606. Right-of-use assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term, and lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease right-of-use assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. Certain adjustments to the right-of-use asset may be required for items such as initial direct costs paid or incentives received. The Company's lease terms include options to extend, terminate or buyout the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Leases that have contract prices based on variable factors, such as power usage, are recognized as variable lease expense in the period in which the obligation for those payments are incurred. Lease expense for variable lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Income and Operating Taxes Income taxes — In accordance with ASC 740-270, the Company’s income tax provision for interim periods is determined through the use of an estimated annual effective tax rate applied to year-to-date ordinary income/loss plus or minus the tax effects of discrete items. The Company expects its annual effective tax rate to be lower than statutory rates as a result of permanent items and current items requiring a valuation allowance. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 limits the Company’s interest deduction to 30% of tax earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for years beginning before January 1, 2022. Thereafter, the interest deduction is limited to 30% of tax earnings before interest and taxes. Any disallowed interest in a year becomes a separate deferred tax asset with an indefinite carryforward period that can be utilized by the Company in a future tax year by an amount equal to its interest limitation in excess of its interest expense for that year. As the Company does not anticipate utilizing the current excess interest expense in the foreseeable future, the Company is establishing a valuation allowance for this excess interest in the estimated annual rate, which in turn lowers the effective tax rate. Operating taxes — The Company elected to record certain operating taxes such as property, sales, use, and gross receipts taxes including telecommunications surcharges as expenses, primarily within cost of services and products. These taxes are not included in income tax expense because the amounts to be paid are not dependent on our level of income. Liabilities for audit exposures are established based on management's assessment of the probability of payment. The provision for such liabilities is recognized as either property, plant and equipment, operating tax expense, or depreciation expense depending on the nature of the audit exposure. Upon resolution of an audit, any remaining liability not paid is released against the account in which it was originally recorded. Certain telecommunication taxes and surcharges that are collected from customers are also recorded as revenue; however, in accordance with ASC 606, revenue associated with these charges is excluded from the transaction price. Derivative Financial Instruments — The Company accounts for derivative financial instruments by recognizing derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value and recognizing the resulting gains or losses as adjustments to the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations or "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss". The Company does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. For derivative instruments that hedge the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges, the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss" in stockholder's equity and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. To receive hedge accounting treatment, cash flow hedges must be highly effective in offsetting changes to expected future cash flows on hedged transactions. Derivatives that do not qualify as hedges are adjusted to fair value through earnings in the current period. Recently Issued Accounting Standards In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2018-15, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software, which aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements in ASC 350-40 for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The amendments in this ASU also require the entity to present the expense related to the capitalized implementation costs in the same line item in the statement of income as the fees associated with the hosting element of the arrangement and classify payments for capitalized implementation costs in the statement of cash flows in the same manner as payments made for fees associated with the hosting element. The amendments in this ASU are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments should be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period after issuance of the update. The Company early adopted this standard prospectively effective January 1, 2019. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which represents a wholesale change to lease accounting. Since that date, the FASB has issued additional ASUs clarifying certain aspects of ASU 2016-02 but did not change the core principal. The standard introduces a lessee model that brings most leases onto the balance sheet, as well as aligns certain underlying principles of the new lessor model with those in ASC 606. The ASU is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted the standard and all subsequent amendments effective January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective transition method, which did not require the Company to adjust comparative periods. The Company elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance, which allowed the Company to carryforward its historical assessments of: (1) whether contracts are or contain leases, (2) lease classification and (3) initial direct costs. In addition to the package of practical expedients, the Company elected the practical expedients of using hindsight in determining the lease term and in assessing impairment of the entity’s right-of-use assets as well as not to assess whether existing or expired land easements that were not previously accounted for as leases under ASC 840 are or contain a lease under ASC 842. Upon adoption of this standard, the Company recognized operating lease right-of-use assets of $38.3 million and operating lease liabilities of $46.2 million in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company elected the practical expedient outlined in ASU 2018-11 allowing entities to initially apply the new lease standard at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. The adoption of ASU 2016-02 had no impact to retained earnings. The Company implemented internal controls and procured a third-party lease accounting software solution to facilitate the ongoing accounting and financial reporting requirements of the ASU. The standard did not have a material impact on our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. The most significant impact was the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for operating leases, while our accounting for finance leases remained substantially unchanged. See Note 7 for required disclosures as a result of adopting ASC 842. Other accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the FASB or other standard-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

Description of Business and Accounting Policies

Description of Business — Cincinnati Bell Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries ("Cincinnati Bell", "we", "our", "us" or the "Company") provide diversified telecommunications and technology services. The Company generates a large portion of its revenue by serving customers in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio and the islands of Hawaii. An economic downturn or natural disaster occurring in these, or a portion of these, limited operating territories could have a disproportionate effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows compared to similar companies of a national scope and similar companies operating in different geographic areas.

The Company had receivables with one customer, Verizon Communications Inc., which made up 18% of the outstanding accounts receivable balance at December 31, 2018. At March 31, 2019, no individual customer exceeded 10% of the outstanding accounts receivable balance. Revenue derived from foreign operations was approximately 5% and 6% of consolidated revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Basis of Presentation — The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations, other comprehensive income, financial position and cash flows for each period presented.

The adjustments referred to above are of a normal and recurring nature. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to SEC rules and regulations for interim reporting.

The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018 was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year or any other interim period.

Use of Estimates — Preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to various regulatory and tax proceedings, lawsuits, claims and other matters. The Company believes adequate provision has been made for all such asserted and unasserted claims in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and outcomes that are not predictable with assurance.

Business Combinations — In accounting for business combinations, we apply the accounting requirements of Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 805, “Business Combinations,” which requires the recording of net assets of acquired businesses at fair value. In developing fair value estimates for acquired assets and assumed liabilities, management analyzes a variety of factors including market data, estimated future cash flows of the acquired operations, industry growth rates, current replacement cost for fixed assets, and market rate assumptions for contractual obligations. Such a valuation requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, particularly with respect to the intangible assets. The Company reports in its consolidated financial statements provisional amounts for the items for which accounting is incomplete. Goodwill is adjusted for any changes to provisional amounts made within the measurement period. See Note 4 for disclosures related to mergers and acquisitions.

Leases - The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception based on the facts and circumstances present. In lease transactions where the Company acts as the lessor, the lease component is accounted for in accordance with ASC 842, and the non-lease component is accounted for in accordance with ASC 606. Although separation of lease and non-lease components is required, certain practical expedients are available that release the Company from this requirement. Adoption of the practical expedient allows the Company to account for each lease component and the related non-lease component together as a single component provided that the timing and patterns of revenue recognition for the components are the same and the combined, single unit of account would be classified as an operating lease. The Company's operating leases for certain services that include Customer Premise Equipment, including handsets and set-top boxes, have lease and non-lease components. In these arrangements, management has concluded that the non-lease components are the predominant characteristic and as a result the Company has elected to account for these arrangements as one single non-lease component recorded as "Revenue" on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations in accordance with ASC 606.

Right-of-use assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term, and lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease right-of-use assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. Certain adjustments to the right-of-use asset may be required for items such as initial direct costs paid or incentives received.

The Company's lease terms include options to extend, terminate or buyout the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Leases that have contract prices based on variable factors, such as power usage, are recognized as variable lease expense in the period in which the obligation for those payments are incurred. Lease expense for variable lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Income and Operating Taxes

Income taxes — In accordance with ASC 740-270, the Company’s income tax provision for interim periods is determined through the use of an estimated annual effective tax rate applied to year-to-date ordinary income/loss plus or minus the tax effects of discrete items. The Company expects its annual effective tax rate to be lower than statutory rates as a result of permanent items and current items requiring a valuation allowance. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 limits the Company’s interest deduction to 30% of tax earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for years beginning before January 1, 2022. Thereafter, the interest deduction is limited to 30% of tax earnings before interest and taxes. Any disallowed interest in a year becomes a separate deferred tax asset with an indefinite carryforward period that can be utilized by the Company in a future tax year by an amount equal to its interest limitation in excess of its interest expense for that year. As the Company does not anticipate utilizing the current excess interest expense in the foreseeable future, the Company is establishing a valuation allowance for this excess interest in the estimated annual rate, which in turn lowers the effective tax rate.

Operating taxes — The Company elected to record certain operating taxes such as property, sales, use, and gross receipts taxes including telecommunications surcharges as expenses, primarily within cost of services and products. These taxes are not included in income tax expense because the amounts to be paid are not dependent on our level of income. Liabilities for audit exposures are established based on management's assessment of the probability of payment. The provision for such liabilities is recognized as either property, plant and equipment, operating tax expense, or depreciation expense depending on the nature of the audit exposure. Upon resolution of an audit, any remaining liability not paid is released against the account in which it was originally recorded. Certain telecommunication taxes and surcharges that are collected from customers are also recorded as revenue; however, in accordance with ASC 606, revenue associated with these charges is excluded from the transaction price.

Derivative Financial Instruments — The Company accounts for derivative financial instruments by recognizing derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value and recognizing the resulting gains or losses as adjustments to the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations or "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss". The Company does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

For derivative instruments that hedge the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges, the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss" in stockholder's equity and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. To receive hedge accounting treatment, cash flow hedges must be highly effective in offsetting changes to expected future cash flows on hedged transactions. Derivatives that do not qualify as hedges are adjusted to fair value through earnings in the current period.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2018-15, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software, which aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements in ASC 350-40 for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The amendments in this ASU also require the entity to present the expense related to the capitalized implementation costs in the same line item in the statement of income as the fees associated with the hosting element of the arrangement and classify payments for capitalized implementation costs in the statement of cash flows in the same manner as payments made for fees associated with the hosting element. The amendments in this ASU are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments should be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period after issuance of the update. The Company early adopted this standard prospectively effective January 1, 2019. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which represents a wholesale change to lease accounting. Since that date, the FASB has issued additional ASUs clarifying certain aspects of ASU 2016-02 but did not change the core principal. The standard introduces a lessee model that brings most leases onto the balance sheet, as well as aligns certain underlying principles of the new lessor model with those in ASC 606. The ASU is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted the standard and all subsequent amendments effective January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective transition method, which did not require the Company to adjust comparative periods.

The Company elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance, which allowed the Company to carryforward its historical assessments of: (1) whether contracts are or contain leases, (2) lease classification and (3) initial direct costs. In addition to the package of practical expedients, the Company elected the practical expedients of using hindsight in determining the lease term and in assessing impairment of the entity’s right-of-use assets as well as not to assess whether existing or expired land easements that were not previously accounted for as leases under ASC 840 are or contain a lease under ASC 842.

Upon adoption of this standard, the Company recognized operating lease right-of-use assets of $38.3 million and operating lease liabilities of $46.2 million in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company elected the practical expedient outlined in ASU 2018-11 allowing entities to initially apply the new lease standard at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. The adoption of ASU 2016-02 had no impact to retained earnings.

The Company implemented internal controls and procured a third-party lease accounting software solution to facilitate the ongoing accounting and financial reporting requirements of the ASU. The standard did not have a material impact on our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. The most significant impact was the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for operating leases, while our accounting for finance leases remained substantially unchanged. See Note 7 for required disclosures as a result of adopting ASC 842.

Other accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the FASB or other standard-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements upon adoption.