Former Qwest customers in the Inland Northwest can expect soon to start seeing some changes to their billing statements, and some also could see their Internet connection speeds increase, now that the merger of Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc. and Monroe, La.-based CenturyLink Inc. has been finalized.

The two companies completed the merger on April 1, thereby creating the third-largest telecommunications company in the U.S.

Tom Novotney, the Spokane-based vice president and regional manager for CenturyLink, says the company has committed to expanding its high-speed Internet network to rural areas in Eastern Washington and across the state.

He adds that the company is in the process of hiring about 10 more employees who will be based out of its Spokane headquarters, at 904 N. Columbus.

The company currently employs around 140 people and operates 15 facilities in the greater Spokane area. All employees who formerly were with Qwest, as well as its operations facilities, were retained in the merger, he says. Before the merger, Novotney served as director of field operations for Qwest and had been with the company for more than 20 years.

CenturyLink plans soon to begin investing more money into expanding its high-speed Internet footprint to currently underserved or unserved rural areas in the state, as well as increasing DSL speeds for some of its urban networks, Novotney says. The company recently announced that it plans to spend $80 million on expanding its high-speed Internet services to rural areas in Washington, though Novotney says it's uncertain where those improvements will be made.

Increasing high-speed Internet access to rural customers was one of the conditions of the merger's approval by the Washington state Utilities and Transportation Commission, he says.

Another condition of approval by the WUTC was that CenturyLink freeze its rates for the three years following the close of the transaction.

For CenturyLink customers located in or near Spokane, Novotney says that upgrades being made at the company's central offices could increase Internet speeds in some areas of the city to a download speed of up to 40 megabits per second from 7 megabits per second currently, while other neighborhoods could see an increase to 12 megabits per second.

"Internet traffic is doubling every six to eight months, so we are expanding the footprint and we are expanding our core infrastructure," he says. "We are continuing to upgrade as customer demand increases."

He adds that many customers close to Spokane could see faster Internet speeds, but that how much those speeds could increase depends on where they're located.

Another upgrade to its network CenturyLink plans to make would allow customers in some areas of the city the option to use an Ethernet connection for the first time, Novotney says.

Ethernet is a type of local-area network connection commonly used in homes or businesses that allows users to share data and resources between computers and various other devices.

Internally, one of the biggest changes here as a result of the merger will be a shift toward a local operating model, which will bring some of the company's decision making closer to its customers in the Inland Northwest, Novotney says.

"The local operating model creates a different structure for us," he says. "Some of the sales and marketing decisions have been made at a distance; but there will be a lot more decision making in the state of Washington, and in Spokane and Eastern Washington, instead of in Denver."

Novotney adds that the main intent of the company's new operating model is to improve relationships with its customers in local service areas.