In what looks like yet another blow to Sprint, Qwest said today it will resell/re-offer Verizon Wireless’ services to its customers in a four-play package. Residential customers will be able to choose wireless only and be billed directly by Verizon Wireless, or include Verizon Wireless service as part of a Qwest bundle with their home phone, Internet and video services and receive one bill from Qwest for all of them.
When I asked Qwest CEO Ed Mueller back in March if they would buy a wireless operator like Sprint, his answer was no. “All we want to do is partner with a national wireless player where we can rebrand and remarket their service to our customer base. We are ambivalent about the technology but we want a partner with retail presence,” he had added. The quid pro quo of the deal: Verizon and Qwest will partner up and bid for government contracts, a very lucrative business indeed.
3 comments so far
5:15 PM PT
Ed is a smart guy so I trust that he is making the right call but my experience and gut tells me that any major operator without their own network will not last long in the marketplace. I’ve been involved in resale deals and they rarely work well…and our deal was only 3 markets!!!
Bottom line to me is that when you bundle commodities you end up with another commodity. “One stop shopping” is soooo 1990’s.
7:41 PM PT
Josh
I agree I think this is a place holder move, and it will prompt someone to pony up the dollars and buy out West. their long haul fiber network is way to valuable for an old bell operator :-)
12:02 AM PT
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