CenturyLink and Qwest Complete Merger
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 4, 2011 · 
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CenturyLink Inc.and Qwest Communications have officially completed their merger, creating the nation’s third largest telecommunications company in the United States behind AT&T and Verizon.
The newly combined service provider will operate a 190,000-mile fiber network, offering a broad variety of services to residential, business, wholesale and government customers throughout its 37-state service area. The provider boasts more than 5 million broadband customers, 17 million access lines, 1,415,000 video subscribers and 850,000 wireless consumers. Read more
FCC Approves CenturyLink/Qwest Merger
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, March 21, 2011 · ·
The FCC today approved the merger of CenturyLink Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. In doing so, the commission imposed a series of conditions designed to protection against the risk of harm to competition, and ensure the merged entity will live up to its commitments to significantly expand its network and launch a major broadband adoption program for low-income consumers.
The merger now needs one final state approval from Oregon. The transaction is still on track to close April 1. Read more
CenturyLink/Qwest Merger on Track to Close April 1
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, February 28, 2011 · ·
Qwest announced last Friday that it is one step closer to completing its merger with CenturyLink (formerly known as CenturyTel).
A federal judge in Denver has approved a class-action settlement that will dismiss shareholder lawsuits filed against both companies. The judge “indicated that he’ll issue the order next week and it’ll become effective March 17,” said Qwest spokeswoman Diane Reberger. Read more
CenturyTel to Acquire Qwest
Posted by Steve Fravel on Thursday, April 22, 2010 · ·
CenturyTel announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement, and would acquire Qwest Communications in a stock-swap of $10.6 billion. The merged companies would provide service in 37 states.
In 2008, CenturyTel purchased Embarq a landline services company that had been spun off by Sprint Nextel. CenturyTel will be looking for ways to enhance deployment of innovative communications products and services in the combined service areas according to the report.
Qwest Considers Applying for Stimulus Funds
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, February 8, 2010 · ·
Following on the heels of significant rule changes, Qwest is considering applying for the second round of broadband stimulus funds.
As you may remember, Qwest and its RBOC counterparts AT&T and Verizon, along with cable giant Comcast declined to file in the first round citing onerous requirements. Qwest was particularly deterred by a first-round rule that would not permit projects to be built within 60 miles of a city or town, even if those areas lacked broadband. The rule has since been amended in a way that motivates the regional carrier to give the stimulus program a second review. Read more
Qwest Upgrades Ethernet Backbone to 100 Gbps
Posted by Jesse Ward on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 · ·
Qwest Communications has begun upgrading its Ethernet backbone to 100 Gbps. The buildout will continue throughout 2010.
Qwest said that once the upgrade is complete, the 100 Gbps backbone will deliver service to markets where the company offers its Ethernet-based iQ Networking and QWave data networking services. Read more
Qwest Unveils 40 Mbps/20 Mbps Service
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 20, 2009 · ·
Qwest announced today that it is doubling its top Internet download speeds in some areas, a move designed to cater to the next-generation customer and keep up with competitive cable offerings.
Leveraging VDSL2, Qwest will initially roll out the service in its Denver, Tucson, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis/St. Paul markets. In the coming months, Qwest plans to introduce these services to select areas within 23 markets in New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. This technology expands on Qwest’s fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) deployment, which has reached more than 2 million customers in its local service region. Read more