CenturyLink is considering whether to offer IPTV, Internet-based cable television service, in the Portland region including Clark County, said Christopher Denzin, the company’s new vice-president and general manager for northern Oregon and Southwest Washington.
The company sells cable television service, under the name Prism, in five markets including Las Vegas, Denzin said Friday. CenturyLink also has teams of planners and engineers examining its full range of services in the region and the Northwest, he said. “Local (phone) lines are important, but we are a technology company,” he said.
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission approved the now-completed merger of CenturyLink and Qwest on March 14, establishing conditions that prevent immediate rate increases while pumping new money into high-speed internet service in some parts of the state.
Denzin said that consumers will see no immediate change in billing, service contacts, or the Qwest logo. CenturyLink plans to make gradual operational changes and to likewise take time to switch to the new company name, he said. The new company will continue to play an active role in philanthropy and community activities, he said.
In its settlement with the regulatory commission, CenturyLink committed to not increase residential telephone rates for at least three years, and it cannot pass on merger costs to ratepayers. The settlement also reduced fees the company can charge to other carriers, which the state said should help lower long distance rates within the state.
The company committed to invest $80 million in broadband, mainly to expand high-speed Internet service to more areas of the state. That’s the largest investment CenturyLink promised to make in any of the 21 states affected by the merger, said Brian Thomas, telecommunications policy adviser to the Utilities and Transportation Commission.
“It’s a big deal for the state,” Thomas said. “It’s the largest telecommunications transaction we’ve seen in more than a decade, since Qwest bought U.S. West.”
Before the merger, Denver-based Qwest was Washington’s largest phone company, with about 1.3 million telephone lines in cities including Vancouver. CenturyLink had about 200,000 customers in the state, mostly in small towns and rural areas. It was Washington’s third-largest phone service provider.
Jim Demmon, cable television manager for Clark Vancouver Television, said he hopes the company will request a franchise to provide cable service in Clark County, where Comcast is the sole franchised cable provider.
“It would be wonderful for the community to have a choice in cable providers,” he said.
