CenturyLink-Qwest Merger ALREADY Effective (was, Moving Forward) [telecom]

This is from the "Telecom News" section of a website called
> "lowt1rates" >> The pending $22.4 billion CenturyLink Inc.- Qwest Communications >> International Inc. merger is on its way to being a foregone >> conclusion. 9 States Down, 12 to Go. This week, the two companies >> said they've received approvals from nine states and the District >> of Columbia, as well as antitrust clearance from the Justice >> Department and Federal Trade Commission. So far, regulators in >> California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, >> New York, Ohio and West Virginia all have given CenturyLink and >> Qwest their blessing, with no conditions. >> >> "Obtaining these state approvals not only signifies that we have >> met the requirements in these states, it also demonstrates that >> the commissions recognize this transaction is very much in the >> public interest," Glen F. Post III, CenturyLink's president and >> CEO, said in a prepared statement.

Bill, I realize that you are quoting from some other webpage, the actual URL that I was re-directed to being:

formatting link

and it also continues as follows:

> CenturyLink and Qwest still must get 3 more states to sign off on >> their deal, which will create a new "super LEC"

and that article does seem to be dated 03-October-2011.

BUT THIS IS OLD NEWS!

CenturyLink and Qwest officially merged in late March/early April 2011 this past Spring, after all necessary regulatory and shareholder hurdles had all been met!

BTW, I had made several posts here and to other telecom related Yahoo groups between April 2010 (when the intended merger was first announced) and March/April 2011 (when the merger was finalized), regarding various developments.

Anyhow, here is the chronology of most of the major regulatory and shareholder approvals and other events leading up to the merger:

22-April-2010 ------> Merger ANNOUNCED ; and also the SEC filing 14-June-2010 -------> California (Filed 14-May-2010) 15-June-2010 -------> Hawaii (Filed 03-June-2010) 16-June-2010 -------> North Carolina (informational filing ONLY) 29-June-2010 -------> Ohio (Filed 28-May-2010) 06-July-2010 -------> Nevada (Filed 27-May-2010) 07-July-2010 -------> Maryland (Filed 08-June-2010) 15-July-2010 -------> FTC/DOJ/HRS-Act-IRS (Filed 12-May-2010) 16-July-2010 -------> Alaska (Filed 04-June-2010) 28-July-2010 -------> Georgia (Filed 25-May-2010) 03-August-2010 -----> West Virginia (Filed 04-June-2010) 24-August-2010 -----> New York State (Filed 04-June-2010) 24-August-2010 -----> SHAREHOLDERS of BOTH Qwest and CenturyLink 30-August-2010 -----> District of Columbia (Filed 04-June-2010) 14-September-2010 --> Mississippi (Filed 25-May-2010) 17-September-2010 --> Louisiana (Filed 28-May-2010) 24-September-2010 --> Virginia (Filed 18-June-2010) 14-October-2010 ----> Pennsylvania (Filed 18-May-2010) 03-November-2010 ---> Iowa (Filed 25-May-2010) 14-December-2010 ---> Montana (Filed 28-May-2010) 15-December-2010 ---> Colorado (Filed 13-May-2010) 16-December-2010 ---> New Jersey (Filed 19-May-2010) 04-January-2011 ----> Nebraska (Filed 04-June-2010) 05-January-2011 ----> Utah (Filed 19-May-2010) 01-March-2011 ------> Arizona (Filed 13-May-2010) 03-March-2011 ------> Minnesota (Filed 14-May-2010) 14-March-2011 ------> Washington State (Filed 13-May-2010) 18-March-2011 ------> FCC (Filed 10-May-2010) 24-March-2011 ------> Oregon (Filed 24-May-2010) 01-April-2011 ------> MERGER/TAKEOVER FINAL/COMPLETE

Note though, that Oregon's state regulatory agency approved the pending merger AFTER the FCC gave their approval.

The CenturyLink name and logo has been replacing the Qwest name and logo throughout the legacy Qwest/US-West 14-state territory (old Northwestern Bell, old Mountain Bell, old Pacific Northwest Bell) for several months now already. And if you try to go to qwest.com you will be re-directed to centurylink.com as well.

Mark J. Cuccia markjcuccia at yahoo dot com