CenturyLink / Qwest

Okay, so the AT&T purchase of divested Alltel markets that I blogged about so much is almost behind us. As most of you know, I was strongly in favor of the purchase, and I generally remain so - though I don't like AT&T's new 2GB data caps on smartphone plans. But still, it provides a real second national carrier to rural America and hopefully the free market will sort out the absurdly low 2GB smartphone caps in time. Ideally, before the release of the iPhone 5.

Now, there's one I'm not so hotly in favor of - the merger of CenturyLink and Qwest. This one is FCC Docket # 10-110, and can be followed here. CenturyLink, for those unaware, is the result of last year's merger of CenturyTel and Embarq. Embarq was the former landline side of Sprint. CenturyTel was (and remains) a plague upon the Kalispell/Polson/Flathead Valley area and other markets, offering poor service in an area of no competition. No local VoIP numbers. No local dial-up Internet numbers for major companies back in the days of dial-up. Very few local choices. But, you see, there wasn't a lack of competition due to a lack of market interest. Even much smaller towns in Montana have had VoIP carriers, competing ISPs, etc for years. The lack of competition was a result of CenturyTel claiming that as a "rural carrier" (despite their massive size) they ought to be protected from having to compete in a free market due to their increased costs. Qwest, serving most of the rest of Montana, never enjoyed such protections from the market.

Guess what? Surprisingly (well, not really), CenturyLink is now claiming that even after their merger with Qwest, they should be able to claim a rural carrier competition exemption like they do now! This despite the fact they'll be the third-largest ILEC and have 17 million access lines. Does that sound like a small rural company that needs government protection (official monopoly basically) because they can't compete in a free market to you?

The ONLY way this merger should be approved is if CenturyLink is required to give up all claims to being a "rural carrier" protected from competition. And it might happen, a lot of companies are telling the FCC just that. Now it is the time for the FCC to do their job and say "enough is enough" to CenturyLink. But they won't do it without political pressure. Click here to make your comments known to the FCC. Tell them you believe the merged CenturyLink/Qwest should be required to quit claiming rural carrier exemption in ANY of their markets, including the ones where they already do. The proceeding number is 10-110 but the way I wrote the link that should already be filled in for you.