NTCA's The New Edge » Qwest

CenturyTel to Acquire Qwest

Steve Fravel — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:44:43 +0000

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.

Click here for the official press release.

Qwest Considers Applying for Stimulus Funds

Jesse Ward — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:15:09 +0000

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.

Qwest stopped short of announcing its intent to apply, but the carrier will be evaluating the stimulus program to see if broadband expansion is more feasible under the realigned rules. “The good news is that they seem to have heard us in Washington, D.C.,” said Chuck Ward, Qwest’s Colorado president in a statement. “It almost gets us able to apply.”

The Denver Business Journal broke the story.
TMC has more.

Qwest Upgrades Ethernet Backbone to 100 Gbps

Jesse Ward — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:10:02 +0000

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.

To complete the enhancements, Qwest will utilize Alcatel-Lucent’s recently announced 100 Gbps Ethernet service routing capability, as well as Alcatel-Lucent’s optical, ultra long-haul platform to transport the 100 Gbps services.

The new architecture is designed to reduce latency and add capacity to the core network to accommodate growth from video and other bandwidth-intensive applications.

100 Gbps networks are seen by many as a logical progression from the current standard of 10 Gbps Ethernet. Of note, Verizon Business also is working on upgrading its major routes in the United States to 100 Gbps.

Read the release.

Qwest Unveils 40 Mbps/20 Mbps Service

Jesse Ward — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:34:20 +0000

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.

Qwest is effectively offering two new pricing tiers. The first tier offers 40 Mbps downstream/5 Mbps upstream for $99.99 per month bundled with a home phone package; an alternative tier offers speeds of 40 Mbps downstream/20 Mbps upstream for $109.99/month also bundled with a home phone. In addition, existing FTTN customers that subscribe to a 7 Mbps, 12 Mbps or 20 Mbps service will be able to upgrade their upstream speed to 5 Mbps for $5.

“Faster download speeds are important, but upload speeds are getting more attention,” said Neil E. Cox, executive vice president of Qwest Product and IT. ““By increasing connection speeds in both directions, Qwest is poised to support user-generated content and simultaneous high-bandwidth applications, like multiple online video streams and downloads or multiple players of online video games.”

View the release.

Qwest Takes Long-Distance Network off the Block

Jesse Ward — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:45:04 +0000

Qwest announced this morning that it is retracting the sale of its long-haul network after failing to attract a sufficient bid. Its long-haul network serves as a wholesale business, carrying long-distance voice and Internet traffic for other phone carriers.

According to reports in The Wall Street Journal, Qwest was seeking $2 billion to $3 billion, but offers totaled less than $1 billion.

“Although there was significant interest in this process from prospective buyers, the company and its board of directors have determined that the long-distance network asset holds far more value to Qwest shareholders, and is more strategically important to Qwest and its customers than is the alternative of pursuing a transaction,” the company said in a release.

Qwest is experiencing competition from wireless and cable companies and landline loss, but it lacks a mobile phone unit to compensate for the decline in customers.

The nation’s third largest telephony provider is saddled with $560 million in debt maturing in 2009, and another roughly $2.2 billion due in 2010. Despite the news, Qwest affirmed its 2009 financial outlook in this morning’s release.

Qwest initially put its long-haul network up for sale in late March.