(REUTERS) Qwest to expand high-speed network into Canada
NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Qwest Communications
International Inc., the No. 4 U.S. long-distance telephone
company, on Wednesday said it would expand its high-speed fiber
optic communications network into Canada to serve customers in
major markets such as Monteal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Qwest's <QWST.O> planned 4,300-mile (2,687 km) expansion
would give it a North American network that stretches more than
24,500 miles (15,312 km) through Canada, the United States and
Mexico.
The Canadian facilities will connect with Qwest's U.S.
broadband network in Seattle, Minneapolis and Buffalo, New
York. The new network will give Qwest greater capacity and more
routing flexibility to transmit voice and data services for all
of its North American customers.
Qwest will use the Canadian network to provide Internet
services, including dedicated access, Web site hosting, and
electronic commerce services.
Denver-based Qwest said it will target Canadian commercial
and corporate customers initially, but it may eventually
explore partnerships or joint venture opportunities to reach
the consumer market.
Qwest plans to begin offering services over the new network
in the first quarter of next year. The company does not yet
have any clients signed up to use the network, but "we've had
some (companies) who approached us and basically endorsed the
strategy and said if we would go to Canada, they'd certainly
stand as willing customers," Lew Wilks, Qwest's president of
Internet and multimedia markets said in a telephone interview.
Qwest, which plans to acquire local telephone company U S
West Inc. <USW.N>, has been aggressively expanding its product
portfolio and geographic reach.
Wilks said Asia-Pacific is its "logical next step" for its
geographic expansion and a move would be made "sooner rather
than later."
Qwest has a pan-European venture with KPN Telecom NV
<KPN.N>, the Dutch telecommunications company, to build and
operate a high-capacity network that will span 9,100 miles
(5,688 km) when completed in 2001.
(( Jessica Hall, New York newsroom 212-859-1729))
REUTERS
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