Qwest offers fiber services

Qwest offers fiber services

April 5, 2001

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

Qwest telecommunications officials said Wednesday they plan to provide high-speed fiber-optic services to the area by the end of April.

The announcement came during a presentation from four Qwest representatives who made their initial pitch to government and business leaders in Cortez.

Now that the fiber-optics highway has been built and lit from Albuquerque to Grand Junction, the area is fair game for competitors who have leased fiber to provide services. Pathnet, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, and four electric co-operatives funded the project.

Qwest was the winner of a $50 million bid from the state to build out the Colorado High Speed Network which facilitates both government and private entities. The state’s portion is called the Multi-use Network.

By the end of April, Qwest has predicted it will establish a fiber-optic point of presence in both Durango and Cortez that will provide one ramp to a fiber-optics highway connected across the nation.

David Schreiber, a representative for the company, explained that Qwest could tailor applications and software services to the needs of the community.

The city of Cortez is in the beginning stages of creating a fiber-optics loop that would connect Cortez’s government entities. The city awarded the bid to construct the loop to Cortez-based Fone.Net in January.

Qwest purchased U S West in June 2000. The company maintains 3.4 million fibers worldwide and has direct connectivity with 250 cities. Twenty-five of their target markets are currently lit.

With the new fiber-optics line, the entire Library of Congress could be downloaded in under a minute.