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To: Kevin G. O'Neill who wrote (133)	12/29/1998 1:54:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15615

>I should think Level 3 would be a good candidate to add to this list.< Yes, I should think so too, but I left them off for a reason at this time. Perhaps in a another year or two, if my assessments are correct. At the present time, if you follow some of the recent PRs, you'll note that LVLT is buying into wholesale bandwidth from some of the pure play (or as close as you could come to pure plan in this business) fiber carriers. Most recently they acquired a ton of b-w, for example, from IIXC. LVLT, IMO, is putting maximum effort right now into creating a long term framework for their IP (and I believe, evolving ATM-IP Hybrid protocol) infrastructure. Note the number of alliances and inter-working groups that they either chair, or are a founding member of (in comparison to QWST whose emphasis has been heavily on the side of pulling glass, and installing rather traditional hierarchical networks, IMO, despite some OC-48 routing engines and their stated intentions to further this model). LVLT, in contrast to QWST, on the other hand, is working towards interoperability between legacy and emerging IP networking standards, as well as a host of new AIN-like/integrated protocols and platforms, to bring them into the future. While I wouldn't count them as among the leaders of "bandwidth creation" right now, I would certainly count them high on my list (actually, somewhere at the head of the pack of Tier Ones and Big Threes) for their role in developing emerging packet architectures over the next three to five years, and beyond. --- A while back LVLT made an announcement that they were going to be using Corning's LEAF (Large Effective Area Fiber) product in their outside plant. At the time I thought that this signified an escalation on their part , i.e. to begin installing fiber in a serious way, resulting in: abundant levels of strands and derived bandwidth. But as of late, I've lost this sense, partially due to their change of direction, to purchase from others for now. I think that their strategy, instead, calls for a JIT deployment of fiber some time in the future, since they are not slated to go live in a big way until two years from now. And in two years time, they may find that another one or two generations of fiber upgrades have come and gone. It happens. I may be wrong re these assessments of LVLT, and I would certainly like to hear other opinions, corrections, or whatever, to set this straight. Regards, Frank C.