(They were the first communications provider to use this strategy called beta-testing, a term used for many years in the software development industry). Their geographic presence featured telephone switching equipment that had been constructed fairly recent to the time frame, thereby requiring fewer upgrades. Their service area was also experiencing population growth at a tremendous rate, tripling their subscriber-base in a short time and increasing revenues. US West also had ownership in the cable industry with its 1994 purchase of Atlanta-based Wometco and GTC cable operations and the subsequent purchase of Continental Cablevision, creating MediaOne Group Inc. MediaOne, along with several ancillary businesses, was spun off as a separate company in 1998 from the traditional phone operations to form MediaOne Group. US West also participated in a joint venture agreement with Time Warner Cable to form Time Warner Communications (later known as TW Telecom) in 1993- it also purchased a 26% stake in Time Warner's entertainment operations including Warner Bros. and HBO, which was passed to MediaOne, AT&T, and finally Comcast. Comcast sold it stake back to Time Warner Inc. in 2003. US West Communications was the first local telephone company to offer Caller ID service in 1991, nearly four years before any other local telco could do so. They were the first U.S. telco to upgrade their PSTN to electronic switching before 1990 and they were the first to offer residential and business ISDN and later, DSL services to their customers by 1997. As a result of its rapid "bring-to-market" abilities and continued success in the advances in technology the company adopted the slogan "Life's better here." developed by ad agency NW Ayer. US West was one of the first companies in the United States to officially recognize and support its gay and lesbian employees. The Eagles, an employee resource group for gay and lesbian US West employees, was recognized in 1989. It had chapters in seven US states by 1990. Criticisms US West was accused by critics of failing to meet service needs within a reasonable time frame and of practicing predatory billing and collection methods. While the company often claimed that subscriber demands were often greater than their ability to fulfill orders, many critics pointed to high profit margins, spending on bring-to-market technology and lackluster investment in customer support. US West went through a period of union-management relations that bordered on positive during the early 1990s. After