The Iowa Utilities Board Wednesday approved the merger of Qwest’s Iowa operations with CenturyLink of Monroe, Louisiana. Board spokesman, Rob Hillesland, says the board gave the initial approval with the promise that CenturyLink will invest in broadband service in Iowa.
He says it will include an investment of at least 25-million dollars in broadband in the state of Iowa over the next five years through a verbal agreement as part of the approval process. Hillesland says Qwest will be a subsidiary of CenturLink, and customers probably won’t notice many differences.
Hillesland says there will be no change in the corporate structure of Qwest and their operations, as they will continue to be “operations as usual, rates won’t change.” Hillesland says the I.U.B. believes the merge won’t impact employees either. Hillesland says there was ample evidence presented that the company will continue to provide “job stability” in their workforce, without “any significant job losses within Qwest.”
He says the indications are the merged company will be stronger financially. The Iowa Utilities Board will issue a written order in the next several weeks outlining the specifics of the merger it has approved.