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To: J Fieb who wrote (2438)	11/14/2000 10:28:48 AM
From: J Fieb	Respond to of 4808

EMC will like this.... Global Networks Prepare to Light Up -- Three new networks could redraw competitive landscape Lori M. Allen The earth may not shake. The planets are not likely to realign. But the monumental era that some of the largest long-haul fiber providers have long promised is almost here: Their global fiber networks will soon be complete. After years of forecasting and promises, tens of thousands of miles of fiber will go live, connecting hundreds of cities globally. A clearer picture of the state of competition in the broadband and converged services market is about to unfold. First up is Level 3 Communications Inc. (Broomfield, Colo.). It will complete its 16,000-mile U.S. fiber optic highway sometime next month, ultimately linking the company's 56 metro networks in the United States and 6.5 million square feet of data storage facilities with similar networks in Europe and Asia. Following in its footsteps, Qwest Communications International Inc. and Williams Communications Group Inc. (Tulsa, Okla.), will soon complete their networks. Qwest's network will connect 150 major U.S. metro areas, running more than 25,500 miles of fiber in North America, while Williams will connect 125 U.S. cities with 33,000 miles of fiber by year's end. All three of these companies have been steadily adding customers and offering new services on parts of their network or leasing lines from other companies' networks since their inception. So what does the completion of their own networks mean? It could mean a harsher environment for competitors in the ultimate quest for customers. These three companies already have strong customer bases, and now they'll have the ability to increase value-added services, be more competitive in their pricing and upgrade their systems more quickly. "The underground pipe system we've installed means we don't have to go digging up the streets every time we want to put a new cable in," says Ron Vidal, group vice president of investor relations and new ventures for Level 3. Level 3 has already begun to offer a new plan that slashes prices for wholesale buyers who keep traffic within the network. The most obvious advantage to a huge completed network is the ability to reach more markets, spurring competition where there may not have been much before. "We went after the top cities from the very beginning and then built into Tier 2 and Tier 3 as we progressed," says Amy Reiber, director of marketing and strategic development for Williams. But with voice becoming a commodity and traditional service providers like AT&T and WorldCom Inc. restructuring, the big question for these carriers is how to use their networks to make money in a market in turmoil. "If voice remains a commodity, with prices continually getting lower, you've got to wonder where the profits are going to come from," says Mark Lecowits, vice president of optical networking research at Communications Industry Researchers Inc. (CIR, Charlottesville, Va.). One answer is value-added services, he says. Level 3 has already begun to capitalize by offering colocation and Web hosting at the data centers on its network. For Williams, which operates an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network to provide data, Internet, video and voice transmission services to telecom carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs), utilities and other service providers, the answer lies in meeting demand. The company sped up the completion of its network to stake an early claim on a share of the market, says Reiber. While there currently seems to be more than enough of a market for Level 3, Qwest and Williams to coexist, no one can foresee what the future may hold. "I think bandwidth will keep increasing, but it's a possibility that there will be a temporary glut," says Lecowits. Nonetheless, the implications for traditional phone companies with extensive circuit-switched infrastructures are not good. Level 3, Qwest and Williams become more valuable with every passing day, a fact that has to be a hard pill to swallow for the WorldComs and AT&Ts of the world. teledotcom.com Copyright ® 2000 CMP Media Inc.