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Qwest Wireless


Owned by Qwest Communications, Qwest Wireless LLC was a cellular phone service offered in the United States. Qwest Wireless was a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that operated on Sprint's CDMA network. While Qwest originally owned its own wireless network, it discontinued that network in 2004 as part of the move to become an MVNO. The network elements were sold to other carriers after shutdown. Qwest was the only Baby Bell that offered its wireless service as an MVNO; Since the wireless company used Sprint's network, most of their phones were Sprint phones with the Qwest name on them. Their phones included models from Sanyo, Samsung, Nokia, UT Starcom (formerly Audiovox), HTC, and Motorola. Qwest Wireless ended the year 2007 with 824,000 wireless subscribers.

Prior to Qwest's acquisition of the RBOC US West, and unrelated to US West Wireless which became Qwest Wireless, US West operated its own analog cellular service, which merged with AirTouch and was eventually combined with GTE and PrimeCo to become Verizon Wireless.

In 1998, US West Wireless (later Qwest Wireless) was launched as a standalone brand with its own network based in the then-US West 14-state region. Qwest Wireless maintained its own network elements, device inventory, billing, and service—offering combined billing and eventually, discounts for customers who purchased other, qualifying Qwest services. At its largest, Qwest Wireless had roughly one million customers, but due to a lack of network availability outside the 14-state Qwest region, the service suffered from slow growth. This lack of on-network coverage was only partially offset by Qwest Wireless' advanced network features, most notably One Number Service (ONS). ONS allowed customers to receive calls to their home phone number on the wireless. If the calls were not answered, the calls then rang normally on the home phone. Also available was Voice Messaging Link (VML), allowing the wireless and wireline phones to share a single voice mail box.


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