CenturyLink Says Level 3 Buy No Threat to Internet Competition; Incompas Concerned

CenturyLink said its proposed acquisition of Level 3 "poses no risk of harm to competition" in the "the market for Internet services such as transit." Level 3 doesn't serve residential subscribers and "therefore the transaction will not result in a network with control over access to more residential subscribers than CenturyLink has today," said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-403 on a discussion CenturyLink and Level 3 representatives had with a Wireline Bureau official last week. On geographic reach, "while Level 3 provides lit services over its entire network, Level 3 also sells dark fiber where it has availability," the filing said. The companies "expect to provide additional information in the docket to supplement these points." Earlier in the week, Incompas said CenturyLink and Level 3 failed to establish that the proposed deal serves the public interest. The companies haven't shown their combination "will increase facilities-based competition -- namely that it will build connections to buildings outside of CenturyLink’s ILEC territory on a larger scale than Level 3 would on its own -- and assure competitive use of those facilities at the same or more favorable rates, terms, and conditions than those offered by Level 3 today," said an Incompas filing posted Monday: "The loss of a nationwide competitive builder creates a significant harm to customers who otherwise would have an alternative fiber provider to the incumbent monopolist." CenturyLink and Level 3 also "glossed over public interest concerns that that transaction will actually undermine competition by eliminating choice of last-mile facilities based providers for enterprise customers in many buildings," said the group, alleging the companies failed to address other concerns about their Ethernet market analysis and competitive overlap.