Qwest's fate questioned

Qwest's fate has been questioned by many industry analysts since the possible merger between AT&T and BellSouth was announced. In the article Currying Favor in Telephony Online, author Daniel O'Shea suggests that Qwest might have "a life of its own" if it is able to create an "identity for itself as an independent ILEC and wholesale provider that is already thinking progressively about the IP-based content era." O'Shea writes that Qwest CEO Richard Notebaert speech recently to the VoIP industry, in which Notebaert said that Qwest will not block VoIP traffic, might help Qwest create this identity.