Qwest expects to close the nearly all-cash deal sometime next year, pending a bankruptcy court judge's approval, the carrier said Thursday. Dallas-based Allegiance filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.
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The agreement covers Allegiance's business-class telephone customers in 36 metropolitan areas, 31 of which are outside Qwest's present reach. Allegiance's voice and data traffic is valued at $500 million.
Qwest Chairman Richard Notebaert said the deal gives his company more "points of presence"--a way of measuring a telephone company's network reach--than most of its competitors. He added that the agreement will allow Qwest to expand its recent push into selling VoIP dialing.
Allegiance Chairman Royce Holland characterized the pairing of long-distance and local phone companies as the first-ever "large-scale, out-of-region competitor for local service between the regional Bell companies."