CenturyLink's Post debunks Sprint acquisition rumors

 

FierceTelcom.com

By Sean Buckley

May 20, 2011

 
Glen Post, CenturyLink's (NYSE: CTL) CEO and Chairman, believes that with its recent acquisition of Qwest and now its pending deal to buy Savvis it will have the right tools to be a major competitive national and international force.

While the former CenturyTel has never been shy to make large acquisitions before, CenturyLink shed its rural telephone-centric roots to become the third largest service provider under AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) when it completed its acquisition of Qwest in April.

Beyond expanding their national and international network footprint, acquiring both Qwest and Savvis also enhances CenturyLink's data center and cloud service capabilities to compete with larger players including AT&T and Verizon.

"We have a history of adapting to change and growing shareholder value, and we believe we're well positioned for the future," said Post during the annual shareholders meeting at the company's headquarters this week.

But one thing that Post isn't going to talk about recent speculation that surfaced in a Bloomberg article that it might be in line to acquire Sprint, a move that could give it not only the wireless element it needs to compete with its two RBOC counterparts but also a global IP/MPLS network, if AT&T is successful in purchasing rival T-Mobile.

"Our focus now is on the integration of Qwest and the acquisition of Savvis," Post said following the shareholders meeting. "We're not looking to go after anything big right now."