Covad Communications
The San Jose, Calif., DSL provider today announced that the carriers will
continue to use Covad as a nationwide broadband partner when the merger
becomes official next year.
In addition to locking in long-term contracts, Covad could see more business
from the combined company than it would if they stayed separate.
SBC-AT&T is expected to make a nationwide push to expand its sale of IP
services, including Voice over IP
Covad will be the provider of choice to hook up customers to DSL (a prerequisite for VoIP and other IP services) in the 24 states outside of
SBC-AT&T's territory, including the big-market states of Colorado, Florida
and New York.
Government regulators will likely spend a year to 18 months reviewing the SBC-AT&T mega-merger. Although it will face resistance from some consumer
groups and smaller telecom carriers, the deal is expected to win approval.
Covad also re-negotiated its line sharing deal with SBC until May 2009,
Covad spokesman Pavel Radda said.
The agreement, effective immediately, guarantees Covad access, at a set price,
to SBC lines to offer its own high-speed Internet services to businesses and
consumers in 13 states.
Terms were not disclosed. Covad has struck similar
deals with Verizon
is now rooting for speedy approval
of the SBC-AT&T combination.
and Qwest
.
The DSL provider will connect homes and businesses outside the new telecom powerhouse's footprint.