US West

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US West, Inc. was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies created in 1983 after AT&T’s breakup. It provided local and long-distance telephone service, data transmission, cable TV, wireless service, and related telecom products in 14 western states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. It was headquartered in Denver and traded on the NYSE as USW.

In 1988, the Bell Operating Companies in the region began doing business under US West Communications. In 1991 Northwestern Bell and Pacific Northwest Bell were merged into Mountain Bell, which was renamed US West Communications, Inc. In 1998, US West split into two companies: the phone properties kept the US West name, while the cable, wireless, and international businesses became MediaOne, which was later spun off as a separate company.

US West was a pioneer in technology and services. It introduced Caller ID in 1991, upgraded to electronic switching ahead of many rivals, and was an early provider of ISDN and later DSL. The company grew its cable holdings by acquiring Wometco, GTC, and Continental Cablevision, forming MediaOne.

The company also pursued a regional media venture with Time Warner, forming Time Warner Communications and holding a 26% stake in Time Warner Entertainment (owners of Warner Bros. and HBO). That stake moved through MediaOne, AT&T, and Comcast, with Comcast selling it back to Time Warner in 2003.

US West faced criticism over service delays and aggressive billing at times and had tensions in labor relations. It also faced regulatory complaints from competitive local exchange carriers and occasional state fines.

In 2000, US West agreed to merge with Qwest Communications for about $44 billion. The merger closed on June 30, 2000, and US West became part of Qwest, with its operations rebranded under Qwest. The Bell Operating Company unit became Qwest Corporation, and other subsidiaries adopted Qwest names.

Qwest itself merged with CenturyLink in 2011, and the Qwest brand was replaced by CenturyLink. Some former US West subsidiaries kept the Qwest name or later adopted CenturyLink branding.