Cincinnati Bell to take ESPN to its broadband base

Beginning on Aug. 1, broadband consumers will be able to view ESPN3 online at both WatchESPN.com and through the telco's cincinnatibell.net portal.

Fans who have a Gold level membership will be able to access the service through ESPN on their Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox gaming devices.

"With ESPN3 we will deliver a whole new level of sports programming to our high-speed Internet customers," Michael Morrison, director of video and entertainment products at Cincinnati Bell, said in a news release. 

Morrison added that customers will be able to access ESPN3 online with their broadband connection "at no additional cost."

Establishing this alliance with ESPN3 is all about providing new value to their existing customer base that has various cable options such as Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Cox and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC). To help offset ongoing landline voice losses, Cincinnati Bell in recent years has been building out a Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) network and also VDSL2 over copper/fiber to offer higher speed services that can support new streaming video services like ESPN3.