Lumen Technologies plans to end CenturyLink land line service in 20 Iowa communities on October 18.
Lumen operates its Iowa land-lines under the brand name CenturyLink. The company said “a small share of customers are still using copper-based home service.” The affected customers are in Ames, Fort Dodge, Farmington, the Iowa City area and a wide swath of the Des Moines metro. In letters to CenturyLink customers in those areas, the company said its “goal is to keep customers connected with techonology built for today and tomorrow, not the fragile networks of the past.”
Upset customers accuse the company of failing to follow federal law, which requires 90 days advance notice when analog copper service lines are being retired. The letters were sent in late August.
CenturyLink is offering affected customers internet-based phone service as an alternative. The company’s roots date back to 1920 when Northwestern Bell was formed. In 1991, Northwestern Bell merged with U-S West, then in 2000 Qwest bought Northwestern Bell. CenturyLink acquired Qwest in 2011. The company adopted the brand name Lumen Technologies six years ago. Its headquarters is in Monroe, Louisiana.
