Last October CenturyLink and Level 3 Communications agreed to a $34 billion dollar merger. Now they are going through the slow process of FCC approval.
Ohio, Utah and Nevada are the first states to sign off on the merger of broadband providers CenturyLink and Level 3 Communications, according to CenturyLink .
“We continue to believe that policymakers, interested in advancing their states in an evolving internet economy, recognize that strong networks are key to our country’s future economic development, job creation and ability to stay connected,” said CenturyLink SVP John Jones.
“Faster, more secure and more reliable networks are crucial to the future for economic development, job creation and staying connected to a global economy,” Jones said back when the deal was filed with regulators.
“Combining CenturyLink with Level 3 will provide customers with state-of-the-art services over a global platform that meets their growing demand for bandwidth, helps them manage today’s complex communication services and provides them with more robust cybersecurity protections. This merger will help us compete more effectively, thus increasing opportunities for our customers, employees and the communities we serve.”
The real danger here is lack of competition. Recently Charter Communications purchased Time Warner Cable. It was even recently reported that Verizon had started talks with Charter and maybe other internet service providers about a possible merger. Hopefully the new Wireless ISPs that both Google and AT&T are working on will become a reality and offer more competition soon.
This merger also has to be approved by the shareholders. A vote is scheduled for March 16 to approve the merger. The companies have said they expect the deal to close by the third quarter of 2017. It is reported that CenturyLink’s President Glenn Post will be president of the combined company.
Source: MultiChannel News
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