Qwest Corporation

Qwest Corporation is a United States telecommunications carrier and Regional Bell Operating Company whose legal and operating history reaches back to the nineteenth-century development of telephone networks in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions. The company is the surviving legal entity of Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, a Bell System operating company that later became widely known as Mountain Bell. It also incorporated the former Northwestern Bell and Pacific Northwest Bell operations after the US West operating companies were legally consolidated in 1991. The business originated in a series of local telephone ventures. Denver Telephone Dispatch Company began service in February 1879, and the Colorado Telephone Company was formed in 1881 as the local business developed. In Utah and neighboring states, Rocky Mountain Bell expanded through acquisitions but encountered the financial and managerial difficulties associated with maintaining networks across a large, sparsely populated territory. Colorado Telephone and Tri-State Telephone combined in July 1911 to form Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, which shortly afterward acquired Rocky Mountain Bell. This created the principal Bell operating company serving much of the interior West. For much of the twentieth century, Mountain States Telephone operated across Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, southern Idaho, Wyoming, and the El Paso area of Texas. The company commonly used the Mountain Bell name from 1969, when the Bell System introduced a new corporate identity. Its El Paso operations were transferred to Southwestern Bell in 1982. Before the 1984 breakup of AT&T, AT&T owned a substantial minority-controlled stake in the company. Following the Bell System divestiture, US West, Inc. became the holding company for Mountain Bell, Northwestern Bell, and Pacific Northwest Bell. The three operating companies began presenting a common US West Communications identity in 1988 while remaining legally distinct. On January 1, 1991, they were merged, with Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph as the surviving legal entity. The surviving company changed its legal name to US West Communications, Inc. the following day. US West Communications pursued network modernization and introduced several services early relative to other United States local carriers. Its documented developments included early deployment of electronic switching, Caller ID, residential and business ISDN, and DSL. During the 1990s, however, US West also sold numerous rural exchanges and access lines to independent telephone companies, while generally retaining directory operations in divested territories. A larger proposed sale of rural lines to Citizens Communications was announced in 1999 but was not completed. Qwest Communications International acquired US West in a hostile takeover completed in 2000. The operating company was subsequently renamed Qwest Corporation. The transaction connected Qwest's long-distance and telecommunications businesses with a major local-exchange carrier, although the legal operating company remained the Regional Bell Operating Company serving its inherited territories. In 2009, Qwest Corporation absorbed the operations of its long-standing subsidiary Malheur Bell. CenturyLink completed its acquisition of Qwest on April 1, 2011. Qwest Corporation became a CenturyLink subsidiary and began doing business as CenturyLink QC on August 8, 2011. After CenturyLink adopted the Lumen Technologies name, the company continued as a Lumen subsidiary. Its significance today is primarily as a regulated local-exchange and telecommunications operating entity, rather than as a separately marketed national consumer brand.

Qwest Corporation's heritage begins with the formation of early telephone exchanges in the Rocky Mountain region. Denver Telephone Dispatch Company opened for business on February 24, 1879, after local promoters secured an American Bell franchise and established a switchboard. Competition soon emerged from the Western Union-backed Colorado Edison Telephone Company. Following American Bell's successful patent litigation against Western Union, Bell-related interests absorbed or displaced competing operations. Colorado Telephone Company was organized in 1881 and expanded through Colorado, including the acquisition of the Leadville telephone company in 1888. A separate regional network developed in Utah and neighboring states. Rocky Mountain Telephone began in Salt Lake City with fewer than one hundred subscribers and was replaced by the American Bell-backed Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company in 1883. Rocky Mountain Bell acquired many small telephone companies across Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Its large territory, high operating costs, and management problems eventually produced financial difficulties. Colorado Telephone and Tri-State Telephone merged on July 17, 1911, to form Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company. Mountain States purchased Rocky Mountain Bell three days later, creating a broad interior-West telephone operator. Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph commonly used the Mountain States Telephone name until 1969, when it adopted the Mountain Bell identity associated with the Bell System's corporate rebranding. Its territory covered Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, southern Idaho, Wyoming, and the El Paso vicinity. The company also controlled Malheur Home Telephone Company in Oregon, which operated as Malheur Bell. Mountain States' Denver headquarters remained at 931 14th Street for much of the period from 1929 through 1984. The 1984 breakup of the Bell System placed Mountain Bell, Northwestern Bell, and Pacific Northwest Bell under the US West holding company. Beginning in 1988, the three companies operated publicly under the US West Communications identity, although their legal separation initially continued. On January 1, 1991, they were consolidated, and Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph remained the surviving corporation. It changed its legal name to US West Communications, Inc. on January 2. The unified company introduced or expanded several network technologies. It was an early provider of Caller ID, residential and business ISDN, and DSL, and it completed major electronic-switching modernization before 1990. At the same time, US West reduced its exposure to sparsely populated areas by selling rural exchanges and access lines to independent carriers during the 1990s. Several transactions involved exchanges in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota, Oregon, and Washington. A proposed 1999 sale of approximately 530,000 rural access lines to Citizens Communications was not completed. Qwest Communications International acquired US West in 2000 after a contested takeover. US West Communications was renamed Qwest Corporation, preserving the local-exchange business as a Qwest operating company. The company later absorbed Malheur Bell's operations on December 14, 2009. CenturyLink completed its acquisition of Qwest on April 1, 2011, and Qwest Corporation began operating under the CenturyLink QC name on August 8 of that year. CenturyLink subsequently changed its corporate name to Lumen Technologies. Qwest Corporation remains a Lumen-owned telecommunications operating entity and a successor to several historic Bell System companies.

1. 2011CenturyLink acquisition closes

   CenturyLink completed its acquisition of Qwest, after which Qwest Corporation operated as CenturyLink QC.

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2. 2009Malheur Bell operations are absorbed

   Qwest Corporation absorbed the operations of its long-standing Malheur Bell subsidiary.

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3. 2000Qwest acquires US West

   Qwest Communications International completed its takeover of US West, and the operating company became Qwest Corporation.

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4. 1991US West operating companies are merged

   Mountain Bell, Northwestern Bell, and Pacific Northwest Bell were legally consolidated, with the surviving company renamed US West Communications.

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5. 1984Company enters the US West holding-company structure

   Following Bell System divestiture, Mountain Bell became one of the operating companies held by US West, Inc.

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6. 1969Mountain Bell identity is adopted

   The company began commonly conducting business as Mountain Bell as part of the Bell System's identity changes.

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7. 1911Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph is created

   Colorado Telephone and Tri-State Telephone merged, and the resulting company acquired Rocky Mountain Bell.

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8. 1883Rocky Mountain Bell is established

   American Bell-backed Rocky Mountain Bell replaced an earlier Salt Lake City telephone venture and expanded throughout several Mountain West states.

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9. 1881Colorado Telephone Company is formed

   Colorado Telephone Company succeeded the early Denver operation and began expanding telephone service across Colorado.

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10. 1879Denver Telephone Dispatch Company begins service

    Denver's first documented telephone exchange associated with the company's lineage opened on February 24, serving an initial base of approximately 161 customers.

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A legacy regional telecommunications operator focused on local exchange infrastructure, voice connectivity, and fixed-line access in parts of the western United States.

• Local telephone serviceFixed-line voice

  The company's core historical business has been the operation of local exchange networks serving residential, commercial, and institutional subscribers across portions of the western United States. This network business includes access lines, switching, maintenance, and interconnection functions inherited from the Bell operating companies.

• DSL broadbandInternet access1997

  Qwest Corporation was associated with the deployment of DSL broadband over its fixed telephone infrastructure. DSL extended the role of the local network beyond traditional voice service by providing always-on residential and business Internet access over copper access lines.

• ISDNDigital voice and data

  The US West operating business was an early provider of residential and business Integrated Services Digital Network offerings. ISDN used digital telephone infrastructure to support voice, data, and related communications applications before broadband technologies became dominant.

• Long-distance and business voice servicesTelecommunications

  Within the broader Qwest and later CenturyLink structure, the company was associated with long-distance connectivity and business communications alongside its local exchange operations. These services linked local access networks with regional and national telecommunications infrastructure.

• 2011Join CenturyLinkM&A

  CenturyLink pursued the acquisition of Qwest to combine its telecommunications operations with Qwest's local and long-distance networks.

  What changed. CenturyLink completed the acquisition on April 1, making Qwest Corporation a subsidiary and subsequently using the CenturyLink QC business name.

  Aftermath. The company became part of the CenturyLink operating structure and later the Lumen Technologies group.

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• 2000Accept Qwest's takeover of US WestM&A

  US West initially resisted Qwest Communications International's takeover attempt, while Qwest used highly valued stock during the technology-market boom to pursue the larger company.

  What changed. Qwest completed a hostile acquisition of US West, after which the operating company was renamed Qwest Corporation.

  Aftermath. The transaction combined Qwest's long-distance and telecommunications activities with US West's Regional Bell Operating Company infrastructure.

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• 1993Begin divestiture of rural exchangesStrategy

  US West sought to reduce its exposure to unprofitable rural telephone lines across its fourteen-state operating region.

  What changed. The company sold or agreed to sell groups of rural exchanges and access lines to independent telecommunications operators while retaining directory operations in some territories.

  Aftermath. The divestitures reshaped the geographic footprint of the inherited Bell operating businesses. A larger proposed transaction with Citizens Communications announced in 1999 was not completed.

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• 2011CenturyLink completed its acquisition of Qwest

  CenturyLink completed its purchase of Qwest, making Qwest Corporation a CenturyLink subsidiary. The operating company later used the CenturyLink QC business name and is now within Lumen Technologies.

  M&A
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• 2009Qwest Corporation absorbed Malheur Bell operations

  The company consolidated the operations of Malheur Bell, a long-standing wholly owned subsidiary serving parts of Oregon.

  M&A
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• 2000Qwest completed its acquisition of US West

  Qwest Communications International acquired US West in a hostile takeover, after which the Bell operating company was renamed Qwest Corporation.

  M&A
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• 1991US West Communications operating companies were consolidated

  Mountain Bell, Northwestern Bell, and Pacific Northwest Bell were merged into the surviving Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph legal entity, which then adopted the US West Communications name.

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1. Qwest Corporation