CenturyLink Sells Level 3 Assets Per Justice Department Agreement

The U.S. Justice Department has approved CenturyLink‘s sale of former Level 3 Communications assets in the Boise, Idaho, area to Syringa Networks, and in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area to Unite Private Networks (UPN).

CenturyLink was required to divest the assets as part of the Justice Department’s approval of its $34 billion Level 3 acquisition, which was completed last November. CenturyLink also is required to divest former Level 3 assets in Tucson, Arizona.

“CenturyLink continues to work with potential buyers regarding the sale of certain former Level 3 metro network assets in Tucson,” said CenturyLink spokeswoman Linda Johnson.

The sales are subject to other governmental approvals, including the Federal Communications Commission, along with other customary closing conditions. The financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

Syringa is a fiber-optic network provider based in Boise, while UPN provides high-capacity, fiber-based communication networks and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

“The acquisition of the former Level 3 network in Albuquerque will allow UPN to serve business customers in Albuquerque almost immediately upon closing, accelerating our initial plans to service the business community,” said Jason Adkins, UPN’s president. “Once the transaction is approved, we will quickly work on deploying 100 Gigibit capabilities in Albuquerque.”

CenturyLink will continue to serve all former Level 3 customers in Boise and Albuquerque unless they choose to be served by Syringa and UPN following the closing of the sales.

The proposed sales do not include or affect the networks and business assets CenturyLink operated in these areas prior to the Level 3 acquisition. CenturyLink retains those assets and will continue providing telecommunications services to residential and business customers in these areas, it said.