Qwest
Denver, Colorado , U.S. | |
Area served | International |
---|---|
Services | Telephone Internet Television |
Revenue | $13.778 billion (2007) |
$1.730 billion (2007) | |
$2.917 billion (2007) | |
Total assets | $22.532 billion (2007) |
Total equity | $563 million (2007) |
Owner | Lumen Technologies (formerly CenturyLink) (2011–present) |
Number of employees | 30,000 (2010) |
Subsidiaries | Qwest Corporation |
Website | www |
Footnotes / references [1] |
Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a
On April 22, 2010,
Qwest provided voice,
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 were represented by two labor unions; the Communications Workers of America and in Montana, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Qwest also had software development centers in Bangalore and Noida (New Delhi), India called Qwest Software Services.
History
Founding
Founded in 1996 by
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.
US West acquisition
Qwest merged with "
As a condition of the merger, Qwest was required to sell off its long-distance operations in the 14-state boundary in which it provided local telephone services. They were eventually sold to
Directory operations sale
In 2002, Qwest agreed to sell its directory operations, QwestDex, to private equity firms
Alliances
Qwest Communications has partnered with other major communications companies during its history.
In Europe, Qwest partnered with the Dutch national telecom operator KPN to create the pan-European data communications and hosting company KPNQwest. KPNQwest was formed in November 1998 and went on to launch an initial public offering on the Nasdaq and Amsterdam stock Exchanges in November 1999. KPNQwest collapsed in bankruptcy in 2002.
In the US, Qwest partnered with AT&T and Verizon to form Movearoo.com.[6] Created on July 9, 2008, the website is a program designed to help customers in the process of moving find home service providers available in their area.[7]
Problems
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 slamming. 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.[8] The company's settlements included a requirement that all of its sales employees sign a pledge stating that slamming was barred and a condition 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 Enron'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.[9] On March 31, 2011, US Federal Judge Marcia Krieger issued a summary judgement rejecting all SEC's claims against Afshin Mohebbi and ruling in his favor.
Qwest's slogan from 1998-2002 was "Ride The Light", which was meant to portray the company as technologically advanced. In October 2002, Richard C. Notebaert, who took over as CEO in June of that year, introduced the "Spirit of Service" campaign which promotes the company as being refocused on customer satisfaction. This slogan was in use until October 2008.
In 2004, Qwest became the first
Refusal of NSA surveillance requests
In May 2006,
In the case of
Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio alleged in appeal documents that the NSA requested that Qwest participate in its wiretapping program more than six months before September 11, 2001. Nacchio recalled the meeting as occurring on February 27, 2001. Nacchio further claimed that the NSA cancelled a lucrative contract with Qwest as a result of Qwest's refusal to participate in the wiretapping program.[13] On April 14, 2009, Nacchio surrendered to a federal prison camp in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, to begin serving a six-year sentence for an insider trading conviction. The United States Supreme Court denied bail pending appeal the same day.[14][15]
A social media experiment and website covering the Qwest holdout, "Thank you Qwest dot Org"
Merger with CenturyLink
On April 22, 2010,
Corporate structure
This section needs to be updated.(April 2011) |
Qwest Communications International, Inc. was the holding company. It was the parent company of many more entities, but those listed below were the main operating units:
- 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 Telephone.
- Qwest L D Corp. was a subsidiary providing long-distance calling services within the Qwest Corporation operating boundaries.
- Qwest Communications Company, LLC was 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 CSXin 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 Bell, 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 (decade) hosting, managing and integrating complex software offerings such as SAP, Oracle and JD Edwards.
- U S WEST, Inc.: The Regional Bell Operating Company it merged with in 2000. Qwest was legally merged into USWEST, Inc. on June 30, 2000, and USWEST was renamed Qwest.
See also
Notes
- ^ "Qwest Communications International, Inc". Google Finance. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ "CenturyLink and Qwest Agree to Merge". News.qwest.com. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ "CenturyLink completes $12.2 billion acquisition of Qwest". Komonews.com. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
- ^ Jim Duffy (14 November 2003). "Qwest acquires Touch America assets". Network World.
- ^ "Qwest to Sell Yellow Pages For $7 Billion". The New York Times. 20 August 2002.
- ^ "Find TV, Internet, and Phone Service - Movearoo".
- ^ O'Shea, Dan (July 9, 2012). "Telcos move in unison with Movearoo.com". fiercetelecom.com.
- ^ "Qwest to pay fine for slamming". Denver Business Journal. 2001-04-27. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ Cauley, Leslie (2006-05-11). "NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ Smith, Jeff (2006-05-12). "Qwest defies NSA". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ Mears, Bill; Andrea Koppel (2006-08-17). "NSA eavesdropping program ruled unconstitutional". CNN. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ "Nacchio says feds punished Qwest: report". MarketWatch. 2007-10-13.
- ^ Vuong, Andy. "?". Denver Post. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009.
- ^ "Nacchio reports to prison; former employees pleased". 9news.com.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Thank you Qwest dot Org". Thankyouqwest.org. Richard Kastelein. n.d. Archived from the original on 2006-06-15. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Blitzer, Wolf (2006-05-12). "Surrounding NSA Tracking of Phone Calls". The Situation Room. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ Armour, Stephanie (2005-05-15). "Phone companies' customers offer their take on assisting NSA". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ Zellor, Tom (2005-05-15). "Qwest achieves some customer respect". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2006-12-12. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- News.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- CenturyLink. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- Washington, DC: MarketWatch. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
References
- Qwest admits improper accounts - 29 July, 2002
- Qwest Connections and Microsoft Sign a Contract for Qwest to offer Windows Live Services with their DSL service
- Qwest Offer Windows Live Services
- Phone Utilities Won't Give Details About Eavesdropping
- Congressman asks Justice Dept. about Qwest wiretap charges
External links
- Qwest Website
- CenturyLink and Qwest Agree to Merge
- 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.
- Vintage Qwest Commercial 2002
- Archive of Qwest Intercept Messages