CenturyLink in Advanced Talks to Merge with Level 3 Communications

Seeing as how Google and other major content providers have moved to peering with consumer & business ISPs directly, and bought trans-pacific fiber and built datacenters all over Europe, Asia and South America to bring content closer to end users, I see how both Centurylink & Level 3 are in a weakened state. Both made tons of money shuttling data around on behalf of Netflix and others, and now Level 3 has taken a back seat, and Centurylink has been reduced to a last mile ISP.

Even on the consumer & small business front Centurylink seems to be scared, Portland is fiber only now, along with most of Seattle, only a decade after Verizon did the same thing just prior to selling the suburbs around Seattle.

How long will the merged company be viable? Will it descend similar to AMD/ATI's post merger valuation (combined value was much lower) while forestalling further, more substantial value loss?

With the rise of Internet Exchanges in Asia & South America, perhaps all that is left for these two tier one networks is rent seeking from content providers for access to consumers on Centurylink's network.