U S WEST Communications
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| CenturyLink QC | |
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Formerly called
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The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company (1911-1990) U S WEST Communications, Inc. (1991-2000) |
| Private (Subsidiary of CenturyLink) | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Predecessor | Colorado Telephone Rocky Mountain Bell |
| Founded | July 17, 1911 |
| Headquarters |
1801 California Street Denver, Colorado, USA |
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Area served
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Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming |
| Products | Local Telephone Service |
| Parent |
AT&T (1911–1983) US West (1984–2000) Qwest (2000–2011) CenturyLink (2011–present) |
| Subsidiaries | El Paso County Telephone |
| Website | http://www.qwest.com/ |
Qwest Corporation is a Bell Operating Company owned by CenturyLink. It was formerly named U S WEST Communications, Inc. from 1991 to 2000, and also formerly named The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1911 to 1991. It includes the former operations of Malheur Bell, Northwestern Bell and Pacific Northwest Bell as well.
It is one of two of the original 22 Bell Operating Companies (the other Frontier West Virginia) not to be owned by a Baby Bell formed in 1984.
Recent Harvard graduates Frederick O. Vaille, and Henry R. Walcott, went to Denver and met a saloonkeeper, Sam Morgan, and together secured 161 customers, enough to warrant a return to Boston to secure a new telephone franchise from the American Bell Telephone Company.
When the franchise was secured, wires were strung, boys were hired as operators, a switchboard was installed and the Denver Telephone Dispatch Company opened for business on February 24, 1879. The Denver exchange was the seventeenth in the nation, opening just nine days after the Minneapolis exchange. Denver's Rocky Mountain News reported that "The Telephone Company are adding new subscribers to the system every day."
Soon after the Denver Dispatch Company began operations, the Western Union-owned Colorado Edison Telephone Company began competitive operations. Western Union also began a phone company in Leadville.
The Edison Company with its powerful transmitter was able to offer service to nearby towns of Golden, Georgetown, Central City, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.
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Wikipedia