PSC approves CenturyLink, Qwest merger

The Montana Public Service Commission last month approved the proposed merger between CenturyLink and Qwest.

As part of the approval, CenturyLink and Qwest agreed to invest a minimum of $10 million over five years in broadband services.

Locally, the merger will likely mean broadband service for West Glacier, where residents and businesses continue to use dial-up Internet.

Jeremy Ferkin, vice president and general manager of CenturyLink’s Rocky Mountain market, said at a meeting in West Glacier last fall that if the merger is approved broadband could be available to West Glacier in 2011.

“We appreciate the approval of the transaction by the Montana Public Service Commission and look forward to bringing a wider variety of communications products and services and broadband availability to Montana than either company could offer alone,” Ferkin said in a prepared release.

The commission’s vote on the merger Dec. 14 in Helena was unanimous.

Commissioner Ken Toole called the merger a “huge deal.”

“It seems like it’s running fairly under the radar,” he said. “But we’re talking about a major shift here. I think it’s for the best.”

The merger is expected to close in the first half of 2011. The merger still needs approval from four more states and the Federal Communications Commission.

Both companies agreed to conditions of the merger, including that they file information by no later than 2014 on their cost of service in Montana so the PSC can review whether rates still match costs.

Qwest and CenturyLink are the two largest land-line telephone companies in Montana.