US West-Quest merger ripple felt across Montana

– 04/07/02

The U S West-Qwest merger has had a ripple effect felt across Montana.
Since the merger in 2000, employment at Qwest Montana has decreased by about 50 jobs to around 525, according to Rick Hays,
Qwest Montana’s vice president. In addition, the local telephone provider’s philanthropy to Montana has abruptly ended.

By CHRISTINA QUINN, IR Business Writer

Most of the workforce decline has been in Helena, where Qwest employment has decreased by more than a third.
Downsizing here occurred when Qwest converted its Helena credit-managing center into a customer-care center as part of
improving service of a one-stop-shopping philosophy, according to Hays.
The change was hard for some of the 80 Helenans who were impacted event though they were paid 20-30 percent more, plus
commission.

Instead of collecting bills they were receiving complaints and sales calls. The workers also had to meet sales quotas and answer a
certain number of calls during an hour’s work, according to Qwest.
“We significantly changed the work that was going on here (in Helena),” said Michael Dunn, a Qwest spokesperson for the northwest
region.

Those who couldn’t meet the new standards received training to improve, he said.
The company also offered senior employees severance packages.
Forty-one of them took it, according to Hays. A few others took an offer to transfer to credit-managing offices in one of the 13 other
states Qwest serves.
Now, Qwest in Helena has about 190 employees and is hiring, Hays said. About a year ago, 300 people worked in the Capital City
for the country’s fourth largest local-telephone provider.

Much of the loss in employment has to do with Qwest’s focus to provide better customer service through adding customer-care
centers and new products, Hays said.
The improvements include the company bringing DSL high-speed Internet to Missoula and Bozeman markets and responding to
customer concerns in a more timely matter.
“The service in Montana is still very strong and very good,” Hays said.

Besides jobs, Helena also lost one of its largest philanthropic givers when the companies merged and ended US West’s
philanthropic giving of $25 million companywide, in order to focus on service.
For Helena alone, U S West gave, in 1999 and 2000, $5,000 to the Myrna Loy Center for Helena Presents, $6,000 to Gateway
Economic Development Council for Web development, $31,000 to Wakina Sky Learning and Library to expand educational
training and $50,000 to the Montana Historical Society for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Conference. U S West also consistently
gave $6,000 a year to Lewis and Clark County United Way.

“Times are different now for the economy, for the telecommunication’s industry, and for Qwest,” Dunn said about the changes.
He added that 2002 would be a conservative year.
It will also be the year Qwest could gain permission to re-enter the long-distance market, he said.

To do this, Qwest has to meet the standards of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, proving its vast infrastructure is open to
competition.
By June, Montana company officials plan on applying with the Federal Communications Commission for permission. Ninety days
later, the FCC should have a decision.
The average customer could save $100 a year using Qwest as both a long distance and a local telephone provider, Hays said.

It will also enhance Montanans’ ability to transfer large amounts of data via electronics, he said.

Reporter Christina Quinn can be reached at 447-4075.

http://helenair.com/business/1E2.html