A third Level 3 assets divestiture deal was revealed today, as CenturyLink announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) approved a sale of assets in Tucson, Ariz. to First Digital Telecom. As a condition of approval for the Level 3 acquisition, CenturyLink was required to divest Level 3 assets in three markets, including Albuquerque, NM; Boise, Idaho, and Tucson.
Salt Lake City, Utah-based FirstDigital Telecom offers a range of telecom and cloud services throughout the Intermountain West region, including local residential and wholesale services. The CenturyLink assets sale will allow FirstDigital to expand into Tucson.
“We look forward to entering the Tucson market with our customer-centric business solutions and a full product mix of fiber-based services, “ said Wesley McDougal, President & CEO of FirstDigital, in a press release. “We have worked together with CenturyLink in the western United States for over 20 years and are confident the transition will be seamless.”
Like previous Level 3 asset divestiture deals, this deal is only for the actual network assets, and not existing Level 3/CenturyLink customers. CenturyLink continues to serve CenturyLink/Level 3 customers in these markets unless they choose to switch to the new provider. In serving those customers, CenturyLink may purchase network services from FirstDigital.
These deals also do not affect legacy CenturyLink customers in these divested markets, who CenturyLink will continue to serve.
The DOJ consent decree also mandated that CenturyLink divest 24 strands of dark fiber connecting 30 specified city-pairs across the country in the form of an Indefeasible Right of Use.
