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CenturyLink, Qwest Merger Closes April 1
Companies Get Final Needed Approval For Deal
Last week the FCC gave their approval for the merger between Qwest and CenturyLink, requiring that the merged company deliver broadband service at speeds of at least 4 Mbps to an additional 4 million households, double the number of current homes that can get 12 Mbps broadband, and triple the number that can get 40 Mbps broadband (not a large number to begin with). With the FCC's approval in the bag, that only left regulators in the state of Utah -- and they formally gave their approval yesterday. According to a CenturyLink press release, the two companies expect the deal to formally close on April 1.
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Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese

Premium Member

How many....

people can even GET 40Mbps already? Not that many I would think...
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: How many....

I think that would be kinda hard to do out in the middle of no where. No way in hell would ANY company offer those speeds in more than 80% of the Qwest service area. It's one of the most rural telephone companies besides ATT and CentLink focuses on those areas. Although CentLink would be smart pushing out the Qwest TV product that ran over VDSL that Qwest killed a few years ago.
PerfectCode
join:2009-06-12
Portland, OR

PerfectCode

Member

Re: How many....

I am in a city and Qwest only offers me 5Mbps/896kbps. :P
nonymous (banned)
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ

nonymous (banned) to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4
said by hottboiinnc4:

I think that would be kinda hard to do out in the middle of no where. No way in hell would ANY company offer those speeds in more than 80% of the Qwest service area. It's one of the most rural telephone companies besides ATT and CentLink focuses on those areas. Although CentLink would be smart pushing out the Qwest TV product that ran over VDSL that Qwest killed a few years ago.

Centurylink has their own product. Nextlevel/Motorola is long gone. Plus if you were a customer that liked the service and now has say fast internet and a direct tv bundle would you switch back after being burned?
meowmeow
join:2003-07-26
Helena, MT

meowmeow

Member

Re: How many....

Next Level was bought by Motorola, but Motorola's TV solutions business sure isn't gone:

»www.motorola.com/Video-S ··· -EN/Home

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList to Cheese

Premium Member

to Cheese
I can, but I won't pay $100+/month for it.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

The only change I'll see

is I will have to change the name and routing number for where the money goes to pay the bill each month on my online bill pay at the bank.

Steve B
Premium Member
join:2004-08-02
Auburn, WA

Steve B to Cheese

Premium Member

to Cheese
I do. My trained rate is 40/20 with it being slightly less on both because of overhead.

I only live a block away from the terminal. =)

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28 to Cheese

Premium Member

to Cheese
10 Mbps here for $65 I get 35 Mbps with cox.
hourgod_87
join:2009-08-14
Athens, TX

hourgod_87

Member

Re: How many....

Shoot... Centurylink charges me $53 for a 1.5 M connection...
What is this!!!???

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28

Premium Member

Re: How many....

sound like a bunch of BS to me. century link charges $60 for 10 M here. for 5 extra $ I get 35 M with cox.
hourgod_87
join:2009-08-14
Athens, TX

hourgod_87

Member

Re: How many....

No BS man. Straight truth.

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28

Premium Member

Re: How many....

I believe you. Its BS they charge so much for so little. Why do they charge so much for so little.
meowmeow
join:2003-07-26
Helena, MT

meowmeow to hourgod_87

Member

to hourgod_87
I just got my grandma to switch from CenturyLink to Bresnan. She was paying $135/month for phone, TV (just basic DISH Network), and 256K DSL. Now she'll get phone, TV (including Starz and Encore), and 8mbps (soon to be 16mbps) Internet for about $115 the first year and $125 after that.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

No one should mourn death of Qwest

No one should mourn the death of Qwest as CenturyLink takes it over. Qwest, which took over Baby Bell U.S. West, was the worst managed of the Baby Bells from the time AT&T was split up. Its only real value was it's long distance fiber network that owner Anschutz brought along for the ride from his deal with Southern Pacific RR & later the Union Pacific RR. It never wanted to be in the last mile business with residential customers.

With the CenturyLink takeover, at least there is the potential that last mile concerns will finally be given higher priority. Residential customer service would have NEVER been a priority for Qwest.

Steve B
Premium Member
join:2004-08-02
Auburn, WA

Steve B

Premium Member

Re: No one should mourn death of Qwest

said by FFH5:

.....Residential customer service would have NEVER been a priority for Qwest.

This is something I know all too well. Lol
Chewyrobbo
join:2005-04-12
Tacoma, WA

Chewyrobbo

Member

Re: No one should mourn death of Qwest

Steve, I also live in the WA area, all I could get from Qwest was 1.5! I was hoping they would have upgraded our area by now, but nope, years later and still no change. Comcast is basically the choice now for us. If I was offered the 40/20 ithink id take it
pooker314
join:2005-04-12
Brush Prairie, WA

pooker314 to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
I really hope you're right. But one look at the CenturyLink forums (an admitedly unscientific survey) demonstrates that last mile upgrades aren't worth crap unless you have infrastructure to supply the last mile. So what if I can sync at 40mpbs if my effective download rate is only 0.5mpbs due to bandwidth exhaustion?

With Qwest, I have 1.5mpbs service, which I doubt will ever change. But at least I get that speed with amazing consistency (and despite being almost 18,000 from the remote terminal).

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

No one should mourn the death of Qwest as CenturyLink takes it over. Qwest, which took over Baby Bell U.S. West, was the worst managed of the Baby Bells from the time AT&T was split up. Its only real value was it's long distance fiber network that owner Anschutz brought along for the ride from his deal with Southern Pacific RR & later the Union Pacific RR. It never wanted to be in the last mile business with residential customers.

With the CenturyLink takeover, at least there is the potential that last mile concerns will finally be given higher priority. Residential customer service would have NEVER been a priority for Qwest.

centurylink, qwest, qworst, US West
whatever you call this steaming pile of crap, it still STINKS!!1
meowmeow
join:2003-07-26
Helena, MT

meowmeow to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
My concern is it's effect on the cost of competing services. Here in Kalispell, MT - a CenturyLink area - Bresnan pays up to TEN TIMES what they pay in Missoula - a Qwest area - for their traffic to be handled. CenturyLink is viciously anticompetitive and thus we have far fewer choices here in Kalispell than people in the rest of the state.

Correction
@verizon.net

Correction

Anon

Correction

Oregon, not Utah.
nanaki333
join:2010-08-11
Chantilly, VA

nanaki333

Member

how about a minimum speed

of at least 3Mb during peak hours? most users of centurylink would rather have even 1.5Mb during 7:30pm than a max speed of 7Mb when there's nobody online at 3am. all the reviews i read on here, and family members that have centurylink, are lucky to get ISDN speeds.
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

Re: how about a minimum speed

said by nanaki333:

of at least 3Mb during peak hours? most users of centurylink would rather have even 1.5Mb during 7:30pm than a max speed of 7Mb when there's nobody online at 3am. all the reviews i read on here, and family members that have centurylink, are lucky to get ISDN speeds.

Bandwidth is becoming so cheap and so available thanks to Moore's Law, they really shouldn't have any trouble maintaining a measley 7 mb during peak hours.

Look at DOCSIS 3, which enables 160 mbps per node. If they have 125 people on a node, you could *guarantee* over 1 mbps per person without any oversubcription. In a few years they'll have 1 gbps DOCSIS 3. It's getting to the point that claims of congestion are laughably transparent lies.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

SimbaSeven

Member

Can already get 7mbps..

..in most of Montana. Heck, my parents in Miles City can get 7mbps/896kbps for less than half of what MidRivers can give (MR wants $100 for a 10mbps/1mbps connection).
chgo_man99
join:2010-01-01
Sunnyvale, CA

chgo_man99

Member

The town I am moving to

offers residential wimax service by an indie ISP called YouSquared. It uses Motorola Canopy technology. Anyone knows anything about latency, speed and reliability (other than during storms)?

koolkid1563
MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
MikroTik CCR1036-8G-2S+
MikroTik hAP AC

koolkid1563

MVM

Re: The town I am moving to

Canopy is a pretty stable architecture when managed properly. You might want to take a look at the WISP forum, some good info in there: »Wireless Service Providers

Some have maybe 5-10ms between SM and AP and that is on a >10mi link with tens of subs on the AP.

CptGemini
Inside your computer
Premium Member
join:2004-11-29
Corpus Christi, TX

CptGemini

Premium Member

I'm betting....

its an april fools joke.
hourgod_87
join:2009-08-14
Athens, TX

hourgod_87

Member

Re: I'm betting....

I got charge $53 this month for a 1.5 Mb this month... i hope this is a April fools joke from Centurylink!!
meowmeow
join:2003-07-26
Helena, MT

meowmeow to CptGemini

Member

to CptGemini
It is, it's an April Fools joke on Qwest's customers - unfortunately including wholesale customers in their service areas.
Big Dawg 23
join:2002-03-27
Northfield, MN

Big Dawg 23

Member

Only 1.5MB in my Town

Qwest offers a Whomping 1.5MB in my town. What is really nice is when I got cable internet in 1998 it was also 1.5MB.

Instead I use Charter for 18MB and get it all the time, now service issues where I live.

inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

inteller

Member

Didn't work with Embarq

CenturyHell never honored their stipulations they agreed to when they merged with Embarq, what makes anyone think they will honor these now?
tuminatr9
join:2003-03-19
Saint Paul, MN

tuminatr9

Member

I must be the only one with qwest 40mbps

I live in saint paul, mn and have the 40mbps got a good deal its $35 per month love it

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 2207.png

turtletoo
@centurytel.net

turtletoo

Anon

Centurylink Qwest, will make no difference

Paying centurylink now but I don't get have the speed I pay for. Still guess I'll count my blessing as Michigan has way too many WISP service which provide as intermittent service as you can get. forty dollars per month for 8-10 days of connection. Something has to be done.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Fools Day

Very Apt.. only a FOOL would want to merge with Qwest! A merger just brings the company closer to bankruptcy! At this point, I want all the top company administration prosecuted for running the company into the ground. Even trump up some charges if there isn't anything... make perp walks like Mci-Worldcom!