[1st-mile-nm] FCC approval of the CenturyLink Level 3 merger

[Richard Lowenberg]

With FCC Approval of the CenturyLink Level 3 Merger in Hand, Deal is Set 
to Close Wednesday

10/30/17 at 5:39 PM by Joan Engebretson

http://www.telecompetitor.com/with-fcc-approval-of-the-centurylink-level-3-merger-in-hand-deal-is-set-to-close-wednesday/

With FCC approval of the CenturyLink Level 3 merger announced today, the 
stage is set for the deal to close Wednesday, CenturyLink said today.

The deal already has received all other necessary approvals, a press 
release states.  Earlier this month, the Department of Justice approved 
the deal with relatively few conditions. Also this month, California 
approved the deal, marking the final state approval that CenturyLink 
needed, according to a press release.

The combination of CenturyLink and Level 3 is expected to bring big 
changes to the enterprise and wholesale telecom markets.

The combined company is expected to get up to three quarters of its 
revenue or more from the enterprise and wholesale market, making it by 
far the most enterprise and wholesale-focused of the top five companies 
serving that market. The next most enterprise-focused of the five is 
AT&T, which as of when the CenturyLink Level 3 deal was announced a year 
ago, was getting only 17% of its revenue from the enterprise and 
wholesale market.

The announced acquisition price was $34 billion, including assumption of 
Level 3 debt.

At that time, a merged CenturyLink Level 3 also was expected to rank 
second among U.S. providers measured by enterprise and wholesale 
revenues, with an estimated $18.8 billion in annual revenues, compared 
to AT&T’s $32.5 billion. The combined company would have network 
facilities in more than 350 metro areas in 60 countries, CenturyLink 
said.

Executives of the two companies at that time said the merged company 
planned to continue Level 3’s traditional strategy of being the 
lowest-cost provider of services.

Emphasizing the enterprise and wholesale strategy would seem to be a 
smart move for CenturyLink which, unlike the larger former Bell 
companies AT&T and Verizon, lacks a wireless business.



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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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