Tel-West, Fiberlink Strike Deal Spokane-Based Company Sells Dial-Tone Operations
US West’s only Spokane competitor for local telephone service has sold its dial-tone operations to a company controlled by Seattle billionaire Craig McCaw.
Spokane-based Tel-West Central sold its dial-tone service Friday to Kirkland, Wash.-based FiberLink.
The sale, still subject to regulatory approval, means that FiberLink will be able to invest heavily in a telephone network here. TelWest broke into telephone networking about 10 months ago in Spokane, setting up a cable network to provide service for businesses in the skywalk buildings downtown.
“This means there’ll be literally millions of dollars invested in Spokane to build another copper and fiber network. It’s an extremely capital-intensive business,” said Greg Green, president of TelWest.
Green will act as Tel-West manager until the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission approves the deal.
He was enthused that FiberLink bought the dial-tone service division and is eager to expand local access capabilities. Tel-West did not sell its division that sells parts and other services.
“Right now you pretty much have a monopoly. This would give you the opportunity to have an alternative provider. When you have a player like McCaw, only good things are going to happen,” he said Wednesday.
In the last year, Craig McCaw has sold McCaw Cellular Communications to AT&T and joined forces with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to back a $9 billion global satellite venture called Teledesic Corp.
A spokesman for FiberLink would not discuss details of the sale until after state and municipal regulatory commissions approve the deal. He would not say when the deal would likely be finalized, and neither he nor Green would disclose the price.
“Now it’s just a question of getting through the bureaucracy,” said Scott Bonney, vice president of regulatory and external affairs at FiberLink.
Tel-West Central and its parent company, Tel-West Communications Inc., have sold telephone equipment and other services in the Spokane area for 10 years.
Until last June, US West and its predecessors were the only dial-tone providers in Spokane for a century.
At that time, Tel-West invested $500,000 in its network to give it the capability to bundle voice, data, video and graphic services.
Despite its status as a “secondary market” due to its size, Spokane is progressive in telecommunications technology and competition, Green said.
“Without question Spokane is on the leading edge of a national trend providing alternative service,” Green said.