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Qwest Wireless Seeks Help From AT&T - and Maybe the iPhone

Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 5:00 PM - by

Qwest is speaking with both AT&T and Verizon, trying to accommodate its 824,000 wireless customers. An agreement with AT&T would allow those Qwest customers to use the iPhone, but Qwest customers are currently using CDMA, and switching to AT&T's network would be more painful.

Currently, Qwest has an agreement with Sprint Nextel for those legacy CDMA customers, but that agreement is going to expire in 2009, according to xChange on Thursday. CEO Ed Mueller has confirmed the discussions and has admitted to that Qwest has serious hole in its strategy.

Qwest has never been able to compete with other companies in wireless services and home video due to the distractions of the Joe Nacchio securities fraud case and a geography in the western U.S. that's roadblocked that last mile of fiber, sometimes even copper, into the home. Recently, Qwest has partnered with DirecTV to take remedy that situation, but the package deals are only available to new DirecTV customers. As a result, Qwest remains at a disadvantage.

In addition, during the massive transition in the U.S. to cell phone use and amidst losses in the legacy land lines, Qwest sold its spectrum license to Verizon in 2005 for $US418M.

The result is that Qwest is looking for a new wireless partner before all of its customers do. That will be yet another challenge.

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