Qwest
Encyclopedia
Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a large United States
telecommunication
s carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western U.S. states: Arizona
, Colorado
, Idaho
, Iowa
, Minnesota
, Montana
, Nebraska
, New Mexico
, North Dakota
, Oregon
, South Dakota
, Utah
, Washington, and Wyoming
.
On April 22, 2010, CenturyLink
announced it would acquire Qwest in a stock-for-stock transaction. The merger closed on April 1, 2011. Qwest began doing business as CenturyLink in April 2011.
Qwest provided voice, Internet backbone
data services, and digital television
in some areas. It operated in three segments: Wireline Services, Wireless
Services, and Other Services. The Wireline Services segment provided local voice, long distance voice, and data and Internet (DSL) services to consumers, businesses, and wholesale customers, as well as access services to wholesale customers. The Wireless Services segment was achieved by a partnership with Verizon Wireless
. Qwest also partnered with DirecTV
to provide digital television service to its customers. In Phoenix
, Denver, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Omaha
, Qwest offers Qwest Choice TV
. The Other Services segment primarily involved the sublease of real estate assets, such as space in office buildings, warehouses, and other properties.
Qwest Communications also provided long-distance services and broadband data, as well as voice and video communications globally. The company sold its products and services to small businesses, governmental entities, and public and private educational institutions through various channels, including direct-sales marketing, telemarketing, arrangements with third-party agents, company’s Web site, and partnership relations. As of September 13, 2005, Qwest had 98 retail stores in 14 states. Qwest Communications was headquartered in Denver, Colorado at 1801 California Street
, in the second tallest building in Denver at 53 stories. The majority of Qwest occupational or non-management employees are represented by two labor unions; the Communications Workers of America
and in Montana, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
. Qwest also had state-of-the-art development centers in Bangalore
and Noida
(New Delhi
), India called Qwest Software Services
.
, Qwest began in an unconventional way. Anschutz, who owned the Southern Pacific Railroad
at the time, established the subsidiary Southern Pacific Telecommunications Company and began installing the first all-digital, fiber-optic infrastructure along his railroad lines and connecting them into central junctions in strategic locations to serve businesses with high-speed data and T1 services. In 1997, the Southern Pacific Railroad was merged into the Union Pacific, in which Qwest gained access to UP's railroad lines to lay fiber-optic cable for its telecom network. At that time Anshutz had a contract with MCI
to lay nationwide fiber for them along the railway lines; he took advantage of this situation and laid his own fiber along with that of MCI. In 1995, SP Telecom moved from San Francisco to Denver, after acquiring the Dallas-based firm Qwest Communications Corp. which owned a digital microwave system and took over its name and facilities.
Qwest Communications grew aggressively, acquiring internet service provider SuperNet in 1997, followed by the acquisition of LCI, a low cost long distance carrier (located in Dublin
, Ohio
and McLean
, Virginia
) in 1998, and followed again by the acquisition of Icon CMT, a web hosting provider, also in 1998. This launched Qwest as not only a provider of high speed data to the niche market of corporate customers, but also a quick-growing residential and business long distance customer base that it quickly merged into its data service.
Qwest merged with "Baby Bell" US West
on June 30, 2000 through an apparent hostile takeover
. Philip Anschutz owned 17.5% of the resulting company.
. In July 2000, Qwest paid a $1.5 million fine to the Federal Communications Commission
to resolve slamming complaints. In April 2001, they paid a $350,000 fine to the Pennsylvania
Bureau of Consumer Protection after the state cited them for deceptive advertising and slamming practices. The company's settlements included a requirement that all of its sales employees sign a pledge stating that slamming was barred-and conditions for dismissal from Qwest employment.
's broadband division which may have helped Enron conceal losses. In 2005, former Chairman and chief executive officer
(CEO) Joseph Nacchio
, former President and chief operating officer
(COO) Afshin Mohebbi
and seven other former Qwest employees were accused of fraud in a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC. Separately, Nacchio was convicted of 19 counts of insider trading
in Qwest stock on April 19, 2007.
Qwest's original slogan was "Ride The Light", which was meant to portray the company as technologically advanced. In 2002, Richard C. Notebaert
, who took over as CEO that year, introduced the "Spirit of Service" campaign which promotes the company as being refocused on customer satisfaction.
In 2004, Qwest became the first Regional Bell operating company
(RBOC) in the United States to offer Standalone DSL (also known as Naked DSL), i.e. DSL
Internet
service that does not require the customer to have local landline
phone service.
reported that millions of telephone calling records had been handed over to the United States
National Security Agency
by AT&T Corp., Verizon, and BellSouth
since September 11, 2001. This data has been used to create a database of all international and domestic calls
. Qwest was allegedly the lone holdout, despite threats from the NSA that their refusal to cooperate may jeopardize future government contracts, a decision which has earned them praise from those who oppose the NSA program.
In the case of ACLU v. NSA
, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor
on August 17, 2006 ruled that the government's domestic eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately. The Bush Administration filed an appeal in the case, and Judge Taylor's decision was overturned by the appeals court.
Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio, convicted of insider trading in April 2007, alleged in appeal documents that the NSA requested that Qwest participate in its wiretapping program more than six months before September 11, 2001. Nacchio recalls the meeting as occurring on February 27, 2001. Nacchio further claims that the NSA cancelled a lucrative contract with Qwest as a result of Qwest's refusal to participate in the wiretapping program. Nacchio surrendered April 14, 2009 to a federal prison camp in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania to begin serving a six-year sentence for the insider trading conviction. The United States Supreme Court denied bail pending appeal the same day.
A social media experiment and website covering the Qwest holdout, "Thank you Qwest dot Org" built by Netherlands-based Webmaster Richard Kastelein
and American Expatriate Journalist Chris Floyd, was covered by the CNN Situation Room
, USA Today, New York Times, International Herald Tribune
, Denver Post, News.com, and the Salt Lake Tribune.
announced it would acquire Qwest in a stock-for-stock transaction. CenturyLink shareholders will hold a 50.5% share of ownership in the combined company, while Qwest shareholders would own the remaining 49.5%. The valuation of CenturyLink's purchase as of April 21, 2010 is $22.4 billion, including the assumption of $11.8 billion of outstanding debt held by Qwest as of December 31, 2009. Qwest has started to do business as CenturyLink
from August 8, 2011.
, it was merged into its corporate parent Qwest Corporation on December 14, 2009
Qwest Interprise America
- Merged into Qwest Service Corporation in 2007 then moved to Qwest Communications Company, LLC
Qwest Services Corporation - While still a legal entity, it previously supplied the administrative and operation services Qwest Corporation currently provides.
Qwest Cyber.Solutions - Operated as an Application Service Provider (ASP) in the late 1990s and early 2000s hosting, managing and integrating complex software offerings such as SAP, Oracle and JD Edwards
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western U.S. states: Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Washington, and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
.
On April 22, 2010, CenturyLink
CenturyLink
CenturyLink, Inc. is a United States telecommunications firm, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana. The company, founded as Central Telephone & Electronics Corporation in 1968, later changed its name to Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc. in 1971, and then was called CenturyTel, Inc. from 1999 to 2010...
announced it would acquire Qwest in a stock-for-stock transaction. The merger closed on April 1, 2011. Qwest began doing business as CenturyLink in April 2011.
Qwest provided voice, Internet backbone
Internet backbone
The Internet backbone refers to the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers in the Internet...
data services, and digital television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in some areas. It operated in three segments: Wireline Services, Wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
Services, and Other Services. The Wireline Services segment provided local voice, long distance voice, and data and Internet (DSL) services to consumers, businesses, and wholesale customers, as well as access services to wholesale customers. The Wireless Services segment was achieved by a partnership with Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
. Qwest also partnered with DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
to provide digital television service to its customers. In Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, Denver, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, Qwest offers Qwest Choice TV
Qwest Choice TV
CenturyLink Choice Television was a digital cable provider in Phoenix and Denver and Omaha. The service is delivered over VDSL in the form of IPTV. Qwest is planning to discontinue its Choice services and invest into ADSL2+ and VDSL2 for its high speed Internet infrastructure. New Qwest...
. The Other Services segment primarily involved the sublease of real estate assets, such as space in office buildings, warehouses, and other properties.
Qwest Communications also provided long-distance services and broadband data, as well as voice and video communications globally. The company sold its products and services to small businesses, governmental entities, and public and private educational institutions through various channels, including direct-sales marketing, telemarketing, arrangements with third-party agents, company’s Web site, and partnership relations. As of September 13, 2005, Qwest had 98 retail stores in 14 states. Qwest Communications was headquartered in Denver, Colorado at 1801 California Street
1801 California Street
1801 California Street, also known as Qwest Tower, is a skyscraper in Denver, Colorado. The building was completed in 1983, and rises 52 floors and in height...
, in the second tallest building in Denver at 53 stories. The majority of Qwest occupational or non-management employees are represented by two labor unions; the Communications Workers of America
Communications Workers of America
Communications Workers of America is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States representing about 550,000 members in both the private and public sectors. The union has 27 locals in Canada via CWA-SCA Canada representing about 8,000 members...
and in Montana, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor union which represents workers in the electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Panama and several Caribbean island nations; particularly electricians, or Inside Wiremen, in the construction industry and linemen and other...
. Qwest also had state-of-the-art development centers in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
and Noida
Noida
Noida , short for the New Okhla Industrial Development Area, is an area in India under the management of the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority . Noida came into administrative existence on 17 April 1976 and celebrates 17 April as "Noida Day". It was set up as part of an urbanization...
(New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
), India called Qwest Software Services
Qwest Software Services
CenturyLink India is a software development center situated in Bangalore and Noida, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of CenturyLink. Its primary responsibility is to help CenturyLink with telecom projects in the OSS and BSS space.The company was established in India in September 2003...
.
History
Founded in 1996 by Philip AnschutzPhilip Anschutz
Philip Frederick Anschutz is an American entrepreneur. Anschutz bought out his father's drilling company in 1961 and earned large returns in Wyoming. He has invested in stocks, real estate and railroads...
, Qwest began in an unconventional way. Anschutz, who owned the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
at the time, established the subsidiary Southern Pacific Telecommunications Company and began installing the first all-digital, fiber-optic infrastructure along his railroad lines and connecting them into central junctions in strategic locations to serve businesses with high-speed data and T1 services. In 1997, the Southern Pacific Railroad was merged into the Union Pacific, in which Qwest gained access to UP's railroad lines to lay fiber-optic cable for its telecom network. At that time Anshutz had a contract with MCI
MCI Communications
MCI Communications Corp. was an American telecommunications company that was instrumental in legal and regulatory changes that led to the breakup of the AT&T monopoly of American telephony and ushered in the competitive long-distance telephone industry. It was headquartered in Washington,...
to lay nationwide fiber for them along the railway lines; he took advantage of this situation and laid his own fiber along with that of MCI. In 1995, SP Telecom moved from San Francisco to Denver, after acquiring the Dallas-based firm Qwest Communications Corp. which owned a digital microwave system and took over its name and facilities.
Qwest Communications grew aggressively, acquiring internet service provider SuperNet in 1997, followed by the acquisition of LCI, a low cost long distance carrier (located in Dublin
Dublin, Ohio
Dublin is a city in Franklin, Delaware, and Union counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 41,751 at the 2010 census. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Approximately 57,000 people live within the Dublin school district....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and McLean
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
) in 1998, and followed again by the acquisition of Icon CMT, a web hosting provider, also in 1998. This launched Qwest as not only a provider of high speed data to the niche market of corporate customers, but also a quick-growing residential and business long distance customer base that it quickly merged into its data service.
US West
U S WEST, Inc. was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies , created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement , a case related to the antitrust breakup of AT&T...
on June 30, 2000 through an apparent hostile takeover
Takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...
. Philip Anschutz owned 17.5% of the resulting company.
Customer complaints and consumer issues
One of the historically significant mass complaints regarding Qwest involved allegations that the then-long-distance-only company switched local telephone service customers over to Qwest's long-distance service without their permission, an illegal practice known as slammingTelephone slamming
Telephone slamming is an illegal telecommunications practice, in which a subscriber's telephone service is changed without their consent. Slamming became a more visible issue after the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the mid-1980s, especially after several brutal price wars...
. In July 2000, Qwest paid a $1.5 million fine to the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
to resolve slamming complaints. In April 2001, they paid a $350,000 fine to the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
Bureau of Consumer Protection after the state cited them for deceptive advertising and slamming practices. The company's settlements included a requirement that all of its sales employees sign a pledge stating that slamming was barred-and conditions for dismissal from Qwest employment.
Accounting and insider trading irregularities
The company was also involved in accounting scandals, and was fined $250 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to be split into two $125 million payments due to the poor state of Qwest's current financial health. Among the transactions in question were a series of deals from 1999 to 2001 with EnronEnron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
's broadband division which may have helped Enron conceal losses. In 2005, former Chairman and chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
(CEO) Joseph Nacchio
Joseph Nacchio
Joseph P. Nacchio , was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International from 1997 to 2002. He was convicted of 19 counts of insider trading in Qwest stock on April 19, 2007. On July 27, 2007, he was sentenced to six years in federal prison...
, former President and chief operating officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
(COO) Afshin Mohebbi
Afshin Mohebbi
Afshin Mohebbi is an Iranian-born United States businessman, best known as the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Qwest Communications International.A US citizen, he was born in Iran and raised in California...
and seven other former Qwest employees were accused of fraud in a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC. Separately, Nacchio was convicted of 19 counts of insider trading
Insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company...
in Qwest stock on April 19, 2007.
Qwest's original slogan was "Ride The Light", which was meant to portray the company as technologically advanced. In 2002, Richard C. Notebaert
Richard Notebaert
Richard C. Notebaert is the former Chairman and CEO of Qwest, Tellabs and Ameritech. He was credited for saving Qwest and Tellabs from bankruptcy, and making Ameritech the most successful "Baby Bell"....
, who took over as CEO that year, introduced the "Spirit of Service" campaign which promotes the company as being refocused on customer satisfaction.
In 2004, Qwest became the first Regional Bell operating company
Regional Bell Operating Company
The Regional Bell Operating Companies are the result of United States v. AT&T, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company . On January 8, 1982, AT&T Corp. settled the suit and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating...
(RBOC) in the United States to offer Standalone DSL (also known as Naked DSL), i.e. DSL
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
service that does not require the customer to have local landline
Landline
A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
phone service.
Refusal for NSA spying
In May 2006, USA TodayUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
reported that millions of telephone calling records had been handed over to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
by AT&T Corp., Verizon, and BellSouth
BellSouth
BellSouth Corporation is an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after the U.S...
since September 11, 2001. This data has been used to create a database of all international and domestic calls
NSA call database
The United States' National Security Agency maintains a database containing hundreds of billions of records of telephone calls made by U.S...
. Qwest was allegedly the lone holdout, despite threats from the NSA that their refusal to cooperate may jeopardize future government contracts, a decision which has earned them praise from those who oppose the NSA program.
In the case of ACLU v. NSA
ACLU v. NSA
American Civil Liberties Union et al., v. National Security Agency / Central et al., 493 F.3d 644 , is a case decided July 6, 2007, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the plaintiffs in the case did not have standing to bring the suit against the NSA, because...
, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor
Anna Diggs Taylor
Anna Diggs Taylor is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. She graduated from Barnard College in 1954 and Yale Law School in 1957, and worked in the Office of Solicitor for the United States Department of Labor...
on August 17, 2006 ruled that the government's domestic eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately. The Bush Administration filed an appeal in the case, and Judge Taylor's decision was overturned by the appeals court.
Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio, convicted of insider trading in April 2007, alleged in appeal documents that the NSA requested that Qwest participate in its wiretapping program more than six months before September 11, 2001. Nacchio recalls the meeting as occurring on February 27, 2001. Nacchio further claims that the NSA cancelled a lucrative contract with Qwest as a result of Qwest's refusal to participate in the wiretapping program. Nacchio surrendered April 14, 2009 to a federal prison camp in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania to begin serving a six-year sentence for the insider trading conviction. The United States Supreme Court denied bail pending appeal the same day.
A social media experiment and website covering the Qwest holdout, "Thank you Qwest dot Org" built by Netherlands-based Webmaster Richard Kastelein
Richard Kastelein
Richard Kastelein, a Dutch Canadian dual citizen, the publisher and co-founder of Appmarket.tv, the first online portal, community, events and industry directory for the emerging industry around TV applications and widgets, Social TV, Multiplatform Strategy, Connected TV, and Transmedia. Currently...
and American Expatriate Journalist Chris Floyd, was covered by the CNN Situation Room
The Situation Room
The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer is an afternoon/early evening newscast on CNN and CNN International hosted by Wolf Blitzer that first aired on August 8, 2005. The show replaces three politics and hard news programs: Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics, Crossfire and Wolf Blitzer Reports.At first,...
, USA Today, New York Times, International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, Denver Post, News.com, and the Salt Lake Tribune.
Merger with CenturyLink
On April 22, 2010, CenturyLinkCenturyLink
CenturyLink, Inc. is a United States telecommunications firm, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana. The company, founded as Central Telephone & Electronics Corporation in 1968, later changed its name to Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc. in 1971, and then was called CenturyTel, Inc. from 1999 to 2010...
announced it would acquire Qwest in a stock-for-stock transaction. CenturyLink shareholders will hold a 50.5% share of ownership in the combined company, while Qwest shareholders would own the remaining 49.5%. The valuation of CenturyLink's purchase as of April 21, 2010 is $22.4 billion, including the assumption of $11.8 billion of outstanding debt held by Qwest as of December 31, 2009. Qwest has started to do business as CenturyLink
CenturyLink
CenturyLink, Inc. is a United States telecommunications firm, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana. The company, founded as Central Telephone & Electronics Corporation in 1968, later changed its name to Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc. in 1971, and then was called CenturyTel, Inc. from 1999 to 2010...
from August 8, 2011.
Corporate structure
Qwest Communications International, Inc. is the holding company. It is the parent company of many more entities, but those listed below are the main operating units:- Qwest CorporationQwest CorporationQwest Corporation is a Bell Operating Company owned by CenturyLink. It was formerly named U S WEST Communications, Inc. from 1991 to 2000, and also formerly named The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1911 to 1991...
is an incumbent local exchange carrierIncumbent local exchange carrierAn ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies , also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone...
(ILEC), and since it was part of the AT&T Bell Operating System as Mountain Bell, it is also a Bell Operating Company. Qwest Corporation serves an in-region local market which consists of the 14 states in which the pre-merger U S WEST provided local telephone service. Qwest Corporation also provides administrative and operation services such as financial, human resources, IT, and legal to the Qwest family of companies — the Qwest affiliates. It also owns El Paso County TelephoneEl Paso County TelephoneEl Paso County Telephone Company is a small telephone company serving El Paso County, Colorado. It was founded in 1915 and is owned by Qwest Corporation, a subsidiary of CenturyLink....
. - Qwest L D Corp. is a subsidiary providing long distance calling services within the Qwest CorporationQwest CorporationQwest Corporation is a Bell Operating Company owned by CenturyLink. It was formerly named U S WEST Communications, Inc. from 1991 to 2000, and also formerly named The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1911 to 1991...
operating boundaries. - Qwest Communications Company, LLC is an affiliate of Qwest that can provide local services but currently provides long-distance telephone and long-haul data services. It was the classic pre U S WEST merger entity founded in 1966 as Southern Pacific Telecommunications Company. Qwest Communications Corporation changed its name and corporate status on January 2, 2009, to a limited liability company. Qwest Communications made an agreement with CSX in which it could use its rail lines as a right-of-way for a fiber-optic system. Qwest Communications International, the holding company, took the slogan Ride the Light as a result of this.
Defunct entities
Malheur Home Telephone Company - Commonly known as Malheur BellMalheur Bell
Malheur Home Telephone Company, commonly known as Malheur Bell, was a rural telephone company operating in Oregon. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Qwest Corporation, the Bell Operating Company of Qwest Communications International....
, it was merged into its corporate parent Qwest Corporation on December 14, 2009
Qwest Interprise America
Qwest Interprise America
Qwest Interprise America, Inc. was created in 1995 to address the advanced data, network integration and interworking needs of large customers....
- Merged into Qwest Service Corporation in 2007 then moved to Qwest Communications Company, LLC
Qwest Services Corporation - While still a legal entity, it previously supplied the administrative and operation services Qwest Corporation currently provides.
Qwest Cyber.Solutions - Operated as an Application Service Provider (ASP) in the late 1990s and early 2000s hosting, managing and integrating complex software offerings such as SAP, Oracle and JD Edwards
See also
- Dex MediaDex MediaDex Media, Inc. was a print and interactive marketing company. It was acquired by R.H. Donnelley, which became Dex One Corporation in February 2010...
- Joseph NacchioJoseph NacchioJoseph P. Nacchio , was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International from 1997 to 2002. He was convicted of 19 counts of insider trading in Qwest stock on April 19, 2007. On July 27, 2007, he was sentenced to six years in federal prison...
- Qwest Choice TVQwest Choice TVCenturyLink Choice Television was a digital cable provider in Phoenix and Denver and Omaha. The service is delivered over VDSL in the form of IPTV. Qwest is planning to discontinue its Choice services and invest into ADSL2+ and VDSL2 for its high speed Internet infrastructure. New Qwest...
- Qwest CorporationQwest CorporationQwest Corporation is a Bell Operating Company owned by CenturyLink. It was formerly named U S WEST Communications, Inc. from 1991 to 2000, and also formerly named The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1911 to 1991...
- Qwest FieldQwest FieldCenturyLink Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It serves as the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer...
- Qwest WirelessQwest WirelessOwned by Qwest Communications, Qwest Wireless LLC is a cellular phone service offered in the United States. Qwest Wireless is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator that currently operates on Verizon Wireless' CDMA network. While Qwest originally owned its own wireless network, it discontinued that...
- US WestUS WestU S WEST, Inc. was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies , created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement , a case related to the antitrust breakup of AT&T...
External links
- Qwest Website
- CenturyLink and Qwest Agree to Merge
- CenturyLink/Qwest Merger Website
- Bell Operating Companies
- Name change from SP Telecom to Qwest announcement
- Yahoo! - Qwest Communications International Inc. Company Profile
- Qwest NSA Website - One major telecommunications company declined to participate in the NSA program: Qwest.