Cox Communications is a major American provider of digital cable TV, internet, and phone services, ranking as the third-largest cable operator in the U.S. with about 6.5 million customers, and is headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The company began in 1962 with cable systems in Pennsylvania, was formally incorporated as Cox Broadcasting in 1964, renamed Cox Communications in 1982, and has gone public and private multiple times, being taken private by its parent Cox Enterprises in 1985 and again in 2005. It was an industry pioneer, becoming the first cable operator to offer telecom services to businesses in 1993 and phone services to consumers in 1997 after the Telecom Act. Through major acquisitions like Times-Mirror (1995), TCA Cable (1999), and AT&T Broadband systems (1999), it expanded significantly, but later sold many properties to Cebridge (now Suddenlink) in 2005-2006 and its Discovery Communications stake for $1.3 billion in 2007. A notable controversy occurred in 2004 when Fairfax County, Virginia, fined Cox about $93,000 for failing to meet a fiber-optic network deadline, and also barred the company from raising rates for a decade. Today, it operates as a private subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, serving millions of internet and digital phone subscribers, and has been recognized for its diversity efforts, ranking #6 on DiversityInc's 2008 list.