Qwest Reconnecting SkyWi

A chain of events has led to Qwest being ordered to reconnect SkyWi. Initially, Qwest claimed that SkyWi owed them $1.7 million for services, and as a result of not getting paid, Qwest started to shut down the Internet provider’s services and its subsidiaries (One Connect IP, Zianet). This move left many business owners without a phone line, and without any warning. This affected many facets of communities in Texas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, whether residential or business. All in all, approximately 10,000 customers were disconnected. Now, the Public Regulation Commission of New Mexico has ordered Qwest to reinstate SkyWi services, until the pending federal lawsuit is resolved.

The statement issued by Jack Leach, CEO of SkyWi and One Connect, said “We believe that we are under attack by Qwest Communications. SkyWi filed a lawsuit against Qwest in federal court in New Mexico earlier in December regarding Qwest’s predatory, anti-competitive, and unfair trade practices. Qwest has now decided to discontinue the services it has provided SkyWi.”

To refute this statement, Qwest stated, “SkyWi's outrageous claims are false. This case is a simple dispute over charges that One Connect, and now SkyWi, owes but has not paid: One Connect/SkyWi ordered services from Qwest, Qwest provided them, and One Connect/SkyWi has not paid for them.”

As aftermath of the shut down, Leach said, “There is still a great deal of damage rendered to our customers' businesses by their actions, however, and we must now work very hard for our customers in order to rebuild their trust in our services and our company. We made a reasonable and fair offer to Qwest to avoid interruption of services until these hearings took place. But that offer was refused by Qwest. They left us no alternative but to seek help in order to protect our customers from further damage to their businesses. Even so, the repercussions of an interruption on this scale will be felt for quite some time.”