[reeneebob]

This came up in another thread, thought people may be interested if they are in the Qwest 14 state region.

Qwest | About | Media | Press Releases

It means (hopefully) that instead of Qwest being hamstrung with the Moto Q, HTC Fusion and HTC Mogul as their smartphone choices, they may just get Blackberry. I would have a better time representing the cell phones then - I am all for BB as you can guess...

Hopefully the partnership will be for the best - I know there are issues with the Sprint partnership.

Edit

Looks like Blackberry is a go for Qwest!!!!! *bounces*

"Under the agreement, Qwest customers will have access to the full line of Verizon Wireless handsets, smartphones and BlackBerry devices, as well as high-speed broadband wireless services for e-mail, Internet access and multimedia services. 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 services."

[xandrex#IM]

Interesting. I live in a QWEST area though I'm part of Verizon. Hopefully this helps them out!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[ERDude]

There are so many different reasons that could be behind the partner switch. From expiration of the contract between Sprint and Qwest to cost of the partnership to Sprint.

It will be interesting to see if the real story behind the switch ever comes out.

[reeneebob]

From what I have gleaned, it was Qwest's dissatisfaction with the deal we had with Sprint and the handsets Sprint allowed us to carry. The lockline portion of Qwest lost money and people were migrating to standalone PCS on accounts, and the partnership wasn't meeting the companies requirements anymore.

When this rumour first started, I saw it on phonescoop.com. Let me see if I can find the interview. The CEO of Qwest came out and said that if Sprint didn't pony up a better deal, then Qwest would partner with someone else. Less than 24 hours after that, Verizon's CEO leaked they were in talks with Qwest, but corporate said NO COMMENT.

Guess it wasn't a falsehood after all...

I am excited about this. The quality of handsets has sucked for a while, and the prospect of Blackberries? Man I could school my co-workers on them lol.

A couple if links:

Qwest in talks with Verizon about wireless deal | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Qwest calls up Verizon Wireless : Tech & Telecom : The Rocky Mountain News

Original rumours:

A Qwest for survival - CNET News.com

[ERDude]

The lockline portion of Qwest lost money and people were migrating to standalone PCS on accounts, and the partnership wasn't meeting the companies requirements anymore.

By lockline do you mean landline? If people were migrating away from the landline then I'd say it would be a problem with their (Qwest) service.

Which would in fact effect their bottom line.

The CEO of Qwest came out and said that if Sprint didn't pony up a better deal, then Qwest would partner with someone else.

Remember it probably costs Sprint money to be in this partnership as I'm sure all the money paid for the wireless service is split between the two companies. It may have actually been a cost to Sprint to continue in the partnership which is why they didn't "pony up a better deal."

Business partnerships are very costly to the one providing the actual service. For instance Wirefly basically gives away phones in exchange for signing a contract with XYZ Wireless provider through them. They are in fact getting a portion of the monthly charges.

Whatever deal they have in place with the individual carries varies but, in the end that business relationship costs the carrier for the length of the contract. In the end the carrier is hoping that you'll renew or purchase new phones directly through them.

Although I can't imagine why Sprint would limit phone choice, that just boggles the mind.

[reeneebob]

Sorry yes, lockline is landline.

That was the big big problem. Qwest was only allowed to provide the phones Sprint allowed us to carry. We also got them some time after Sprint carried them. The selection has always been very limited. Go onto Qwest.com now and look at the handsets, it's awful. I think there are maybe 20 handsets and that's including the colour variations on some of them! It's been a real problem, believe me. They didn't want the competition...in the end it hurt them.

The deal with Verizon is a 5 year deal, and the dollar figures in the articles are that it is a $50 billion dollar deal. Getting a full selection of phones, though, will be HUGE. Also, one way it will differ is Qwest customers will be able to order a standalone Verizon account and it would be billed by Verizon - that is one thing that is very different that the Sprint arrangement. I guess, in that case it would be like we are a reseller or dealer? I am going back to work tomorrow after a3 week medical leave, so I will need to read up on that. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I know we have been seeing more and more landlines being cancelled and moving to a standalone dataline for DSL (Qwest recently started new fiber optic networks, and are now offering up to 20Mbps speeds in some areas) and losing the home phone and long distance has been bleeding money (as the CEO said in the interviews). I think they are starting to put their eggs in the Wireless/DSL basket. From what I have gathered, the partnerships with cell and tv (now Verizon and DIRECTV respectively) save Qwest money as we don't have to build the infrastructure. Only 3 areas can get actual Qwest owned TV, in Denver, Phoenix and Omaha.