[telecom] in a Qwest for wireless service...

Aug 19, 2009 5 Replies

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danny burstein 16 years ago

[Reuters]

Qwest to shut off its wireless service October 31

Qwest Communications International Inc said on Tuesday that it would discontinue its own-brand wireless service at the end of October and started telling customers they need to switch to another service.

As they struggle with home phone disconnections, operators such as Qwest, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc all provide a combination of cellular and wired home phone services with an aim to encouraging customers to stay longer.

But while its bigger rivals run both wired and wireless networks, Qwest depends on partners to offer mobile services.

Last year it announced plans to exit the Qwest Wireless service, which runs on the Sprint Nextel Corp network, and instead started offering cellular services from Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group Plc.

Qwest, which is giving its customers 60-day notice of the service shut-off, said it would not charge early contract termination fees and customers would be able to port their numbers to other providers, such as Verizon Wireless.

The company said that in September and October, Qwest customers making calls will be routed to Qwest customer service representatives to be reminded of the shut-down.

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_____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key snipped-for-privacy@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

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AES 16 years ago

Is this a case study for the principle that the more ethical a company is, and the better the customer service it provides -- the *worse* it will do in the competitive arena?

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danny burstein 16 years ago

Not to mention sending the CEO off to the Federal Pen, on charges which, while he was convicted, seem to be a bit political.

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Geoffrey Welsh 16 years ago

This seems a bit political (business politics, not government politics): is there any technical reason (or any reason, other than wanting to steer more of its customers to their new wireless partner) why the customer base couldn't have been handed over and integrated into Sprint Nextel, the way that so many customer bases have been transferred following any number of mergers and acquisitions in the telecom industry? Wouldn't that have served the customer better?

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Robert Bonomi 16 years ago

Wouldn't _that_ depend on the customer? Whether it was more important to them to have the Qwest 'relationship' for their cell account, or to maintain the same 'network'?

Wouldn't it seem "best" to let each _customer_ decide what is best *for*that*

*customer*, rather than making a single decision that is forced on all of the customers?

Would you like to reconsider your question, or do you really believe that _you_ 'know' what is 'better' for =every=one= of Qwest's customers?

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Geoffrey Welsh 16 years ago

I never considered that subscribers might want their calls "routed to Qwest customer service representatives" or their mobile phones rendered service-less! Choice is always nice and I'd never tell Qwest not to allow customers to switch, but ensuring that something that has worked up until now continues to do so (preferrably seamlessly) seems like a no-brainer to me...

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