Global Crossing, Frontier move onward?

After the long battle over U S West, Global Crossing appears to have salvaged its relationship with Frontier Corp. since Qwest Communications agreed to give up its pursuit of the Rochester, NY-based telco.

"We were getting some delays from the regulators trying to link the U S West application for approval [to] the Frontier application, but now we are back on track for [closing the acquisition in] September," said Robert Annunziata, CEO of Global Crossing.

Since the original agreement with Global Crossing and Frontier was initiated, two transition teams have been working on combining Global Crossing and Frontier, despite Qwest's offer. With Qwest and U S West now out of the equation, the companies can focus on the Frontier and Global Crossing merger even more, said a Frontier spokesman.

Still lingering is the question of whether Qwest ever intended to acquire Frontier or if it was simply a pawn in Qwest's efforts to merge with U S West.

"We don't think that the other side, Qwest in particular, was acting in good faith as we were with the offers," said the Frontier spokesman. "There were rumors that [Qwest] was looking at the Frontier deal as a way to get at U S West, and their actions seem to support that."

Frontier's board fulfilled its fiduciary responsibility by examining the Qwest offer and negotiating expeditiously and in good faith, although Qwest did not necessarily reciprocate, he said.

"I talked with [Frontier President and Chief Operating Officer] Rolla Huff and they [Frontier] feel they were not being negotiated with honestly from the Qwest side," Annunziata said.

Qwest put on the appearance of going after two companies, but in reality, it only wanted to acquire one, said Mike Smith, managing director with Stratecast Partners. "You never want to feel as if you have been used as a pawn, and to a certain degree, that's how Frontier feels," he added.

Assistant News Editor David Schober contributed to this report.