After yesterday's revealing of a sweeping new partnership with Verizon, Qwest took an opportunity during its earnings call today to go into detail on exactly what the deal means. The Baby Bell confirmed that Qwest branding will completely go away -- Verizon devices sold will be Verizon through and through, with no hint of rebranded MVNO action like the old setup with Sprint (which, in some cases, had meant Qwest exclusives like the Fusion). They also say that they're looking forward to implementing Verizon's next-gen (read: LTE) network just as soon as it's available, but really, here's our question: just what would Qwest be implementing, anyway? For all practical purposes, the company's doing nothing more than becoming a glorified authorized Verizon reseller; big wigs on the call said that the terms of the deal are "much, much better" than the old one with Sprint, and considering that they won't actually have to go through the daily grind of running an MVNO, it's no wonder. It's still unclear how Sprint customers are going to be transitioned, but we imagine Sprint proper would be happy to take 'em off Qwest's hands if it came down to it.

It looks like the price was right, because that possible deal mentioned by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg a while back to supplant Sprint as Qwest's wireless provider of choice has now materialized in the form of a gargantuan five-year deal. From what little has been said so far, it seems that the company might be abandoning the MVNO model it currently uses with Sprint and will simply be marketing Verizon Wireless devices through its website, telesales, and in-store channels, giving customers the option of being billed directly by Big Red (how very kind of them!) or having the charges bundled in with the remainder of their service. Also remaining to be seen is how the transition of Qwest's existing Sprint-based customers -- some 800,000 of them -- would be transitioned, if at all. More details are expected to emerge during its earnings call on Tuesday, and we'd imagine current Qwest wireless customers are on the edges of their seats.

Qwest runs its regional wireless carrier as a Sprint MVNO -- a venture that has apparently turned out to be an unprofitable one, not just because of the pricing Qwest receives on its minutes, but also because Sprint's exclusivity clauses have left the little guys feeling like they're offering an also-ran lineup (Fusion notwithstanding, we guess, since Qwest launched it eons before Verizon and Sprint still hasn't come to bat on that one). That has left Qwest looking to partner with someone else once its current contract with Sprint expires next year, and Verizon chief Ivan Seidenberg has spilled the beans that it has been in touch regarding a possible deal. Theoretically, a Verizon deal could make it easy for existing Qwest subscribers to stick with their existing handsets since they'd be switching from one set of CDMA airwaves to another, so it makes sense -- but really, with MVNOs dropping left and right and the current venture sucking money into thin air, why would it be in the black a few years from now?

[Via Phone Scoop]

If our brief time with the GSM variant (the S710 Vox) is any indication, Qwest subscribers should be pretty freakin' stoked about this. The regional carrier has just picked up HTC's S720 Libra, the CDMA radioed version of the manufacturer's slide-out QWERTY smartphone rocking Windows Mobile 6 Standard. The naming is a little confusing -- Qwest calls it the "Fusion HTC 5800" -- but whatever they want to call it, it's pure gold by HTC and Windows Mobile standards. The spec sheet tells of a 2 megapixel cam, A2DP, microSD expansion, and EV-DO all packed into a pleasantly compact (we know from our experiences with the Vox) shell. Grab it now for two bills on contract.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Following up its pink variation on the Sanyo 3100 handset, Qwest is now also offering a slightly more subdued "Cherry Blossom Pink" version of Sanyo's slim Katana handset, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As with the 3100, 10% of the sales from the phone (up to $100,000) will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which is focused on research and community outreach programs. The phone itself is otherwise the same old Katana handset, weighing a slight 3.4 ounces and packing a 2.2-inch QVGA display, VGA camera, and Bluetooth, but unfortunately lacking EV-DO support. Going pink will cost you the same as the Katana's less colorful brethren, setting you back an even $100 (with a Qwest contract, of course).

[Via Techie Diva]

Qwest and Sanyo have announced a stylin' -- and more importantly, tasteful -- "Always Pink" rendition of Sanyo's SCP-3100 to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Qwest is committing up to $100,000 of phone sales to the foundation from now through October 31 in support of research and community outreach programs. For what it's worth, the low-end SCP-3100's specs mirror those of its, uh, less pink siblings: 160 x 128 color internal and 96 x 32 monochrome external display, VGA camera, speakerphone, and a promised talk time of up to 3.6 hours. Throwing your support behind breast cancer research and awareness will run you $50 with a 2-year contract; if the 3100 doesn't excite you, two additional as-yet-unannounced models (presumably clad in pink) are promised in the series later this summer. Or, you know, you could always choose more traditional (and direct) means of charitable donation.

[Via Mobileburn]