Tim White, vice president and general manager for CenturyLink Inc. in Iowa, discusses progress of the integration of Qwest Communications International Inc., which merged into CenturyLink on April 1. As a condition for approval of the deal by the Iowa Utilities Board, CenturyLink, now the third-largest U.S. telecommunication company, pledged to invest $25 million in additional broadband development in the state in the next five years. The Business Record recently sat down with White for a brief update on how the merger has affected Iowa.

Your thoughts on the transition from Qwest to CenturyLink?

There’s been a lot of activity since April 1, and I think we’re well on our way. You’re seeing the buildings rebranded and the vehicles rebranded, and all of that activity is progressing quite well. From an advertising perspective, hopefully folks are seeing some of the commercials letting them know who CenturyLink is and what we’re about.

What are some things that will remain consistent company to company, and what are some of the key differences?

Both companies brought just an incredible group of employees that are very much committed to their customers, to their communities, to their co-workers. I think that at its core, it’s incredible to see two companies with that passion come together. Organizationally, we have made some changes with the merger. We’re really taking a local-market focus, to determine how to best serve each market.

How is the five-year commitment for additional broadband infrastructure investment unfolding?

We are a broadband company, so that’s the key strategic focus for our company – how do we continue to invest in our markets? We are using the local model to identify how to do that more effectively to reach more and more customers, and also provide faster and faster speeds for our existing customers.

What is the biggest need from Iowa businesses’ perspective?

I think it’s still data networks. As we’ve brought our companies together, we’ve nearly doubled the size of our fiber-optic network nationally. So we’re coast-to-coast and cover a significant footprint within the United States as well as internationally. Overall, that national breadth for providing services, whether it’s a small business with three or four lines and data services, to a 1,000-site national corporation, we’ve got the skill sets to do that quite well.

What has been the merger’s net effect on employment in Iowa?

We’ve really not seen a movement either way; we’re still working through integration and all those final pieces. It will be based on how the business changes as we move forward. We still have around 1,500 employees for the state. At the same time, there have been some (reductions), and it’s critically important to us how we treat our employees. But there have been some additions in other areas.