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Qwest To Offer 20Mbps FTTN
CEO confirms $300 million, 1.5 million customer upgrade

This morning we noted that Qwest's earnings report made an off-hand reference to the company offering 20Mbps speeds. While listening in on the Qwest earnings conference call, we heard Qwest CEO Ed Mueller announce that the company would be spending $300 million over the next two years to bring faster speeds to 1.5 million Qwest customers.

"As we look to the future we're convinced that increased bandwidth to our customers is critical for long term success," insists Mueller (obvious statement of the week). "We're happy to announce that our board has approved the expansion of our fiber to the node plan."

The CEO notes they'll spend between $70-100 million on FTTN this year and another $200 million next year. "We really believe that this is the responsible way to get our bandwidth to our customers," insists Mueller. Considering Qwest serves around 10 million customers, it's responsible, but not particularly ambitious.

With pair bonding to the home, we believe it may be possible to (offer 40Mbps).
-Qwest CEO Ed Mueller

Compare Qwest's $300 million plan to the plans of the other baby bells. AT&T plans to spend $6.5 billion for U-Verse VDSL deployment over the next few years, while Verizon has earmarked $23 billion for FiOS FTTH service over the next five.

Qwest's plan will bring speeds of at least 20Mbps to 1.5 million Qwest customers. It's still not clear if they're planning on ADSL2+ or VDSL, but the latter seems more likely. "With pair bonding to the home, we believe it may be possible to double that speed," says Mueller.

Click for full size
Mueller insisted that the company was sticking with satellite as their video bundle option, and won't be pursuing IPTV like AT&T. That's in keeping with previous company statements that they'll continue to rely on bundled DirecTV service and portal content as their video play.

Other than that, Mueller wasn't specific on whether the technology was VDSL or ADSL2+. Nor was he clear on what new services would be added, which didn't particularly impress call analysts. "I can’t give you all the products and services today that would be put on there," said the CEO. "It would be crazy to think I knew them all."

We were the first to get wind of this plan over the summer, when we obtained leaked documents highlighting potential launch markets. According to the material, the FTTN service is supposed to be available to 8% of Qwest customers by the end of 2007 and 24% of Qwest's customers by the end of 2008.
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openupshop
join:2000-11-25
Chandler, AZ

openupshop

Member

About Time

Whoo Hooo

Bring Phoenix, AZ the speed!

odog
Minister of internet doohickies
Premium Member
join:2001-08-05
Atlanta, GA

odog

Premium Member

Re: About Time

$200 bucks a sub for an FTTN deployment, this is definitely going to be high income, high homes per mile thing that's for sure!
dynodb
Premium Member
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

dynodb

Premium Member

Re: About Time

said by odog:

$200 bucks a sub for an FTTN deployment, this is definitely going to be high income, high homes per mile thing that's for sure!
Verizon is spending around 4 times that for FIOS; $200/sub isn't that high at all.

Tzale
Proud Libertarian Conservative
Premium Member
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro

Tzale to odog

Premium Member

to odog
said by odog:

$200 bucks a sub for an FTTN deployment, this is definitely going to be high income, high homes per mile thing that's for sure!
$200/sub is NOTHING compared to what Verizon and some other companies are spending. The difference in price is mainly that it is FIBER TO THE NODE and NOT FIBER TO THE HOME.... Personally, I think FTTH is a much better investment since it is nearly limitless compared to FTTN.

-Tzale
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

1 recommendation

fiberguy2 to odog

Premium Member

to odog
said by odog:

$200 bucks a sub for an FTTN deployment, this is definitely going to be high income, high homes per mile thing that's for sure!
.. and why is that? I don't understand this belief system that high income homes spend more money on television, broadband, and telephone services - that's not necessarily true.

They are more stable in their paying habits, but as for them spending more? Not that I've seen anywhere.

Usually poor or low income families will dump more money into the extra RGU's before the high income family. HIFs tend to spend less on television services and encourage their kids/family to do other activities. Trust me, rich people don't get rich by spending money.

MTBikerChris
Premium Member
join:2001-08-28
Erie, CO

MTBikerChris to openupshop

Premium Member

to openupshop
said by openupshop:

Whoo Hooo

Bring Phoenix, AZ the speed!
NO Bring it to DENVER please.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: About Time

I just got a postcard in the mail yesterday from SpeakEasy that they are doing ADSL2 with dedicated lines, and speeds up to 15 / 1 (starting at $149 assuming for the 8/1 tier - a joke if you ask me)

But, they also said that they'd guarantee me at least twice my current speed, which is only 1.5/890 non-rt fed. Logged in, of course, and no dice.

Bottom line, is something happened in the Minneapolis / St Paul market that they're offering ADSL2.

»www.speakeasy.net/busine ··· s/adsl2/
dynodb
Premium Member
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

dynodb

Premium Member

20Mbps- but is it data?

They say that they're to offer 20M bandwidth; that doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be in the form of a 20M Internet connection if they're talking about video.

DanHo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-20
Seattle, WA

DanHo

Premium Member

Re: 20Mbps- but is it data?

Re-read the article. Qwest is still planning on delivering TV via its relationship with DirecTV.

It would be nice to actually have a service that could actually compete with Comcast in this area. For me Qwest DSL is a non-player.
dynodb
Premium Member
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

dynodb

Premium Member

Re: 20Mbps- but is it data?

said by DanHo:

Re-read the article. Qwest is still planning on delivering TV via its relationship with DirecTV.

It would be nice to actually have a service that could actually compete with Comcast in this area. For me Qwest DSL is a non-player.
That they plan to continue their relationship with DirecTV does not imply that they aren't going to offer IPTV.
PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR

1 recommendation

PDXPLT

Member

At least they're being even-handed in deployment ...

My weekend house way out in the woods is in Qwest territory. It has DSL(!) It may be slow compared to what some people are used to, but at least Qwest gave us something. Driving around much of the rural parts of Qwest territory around here, I see alot of those mini-DSLAM cabinets that Qwest uses. Good for them.

Contrast this to Verizon, where unfortunately my main house is located. All they're doing is deploying FIOS to the same select group of 'high-value' customers that already have DSL. They'll never bother to deploy even DSL in my neighborhood.

WontDeliver
@cox.net

WontDeliver

Anon

Is this more hype which customers won't actually see?

Interesting considering they continue to refuse to offer higher then 1.5mbps to many of us who live within a mile of the CO. On the web site they promise us 7mbps and the phone reps sell us 7mbps but when the tech arrives he says he is not allowed to install more then 1.5mbps.
Slacker44
join:2001-05-10
Gilbert, AZ

Slacker44

Member

VDSL

If this is for VDSL I can get it. I had it once through Qwest and I enjoyed it. It just wasn't as good as the Dish/Cox setup I have now.

20mb will be tempting but will Cox move to 3.0 by the time Qwest gets this out?

toby
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA

toby

Member

RT want the 7 Mbps first

We want the 7Mbps speeds first . . . any idea is the RTs will be fed with fibre so we can get these speeds?

veldy
join:1999-08-04
Minneapolis, MN

veldy

Member

Re: RT want the 7 Mbps first

Yes, all the Lucent Stinger deployments seem to be only offering 1.5Mbps to its customers. I think they COULD upgrade these, but it seems they haven't (low priority ... they never have cared that many sit largely unused because their Competition offers so much faster service!).

bent
and Inga
Premium Member
join:2004-10-04
Loveland, CO

bent

Premium Member

BFD

The CEO notes they'll spend between $70-100 million on FTTN this year and another $200 million next year. "We really believe that this is the responsible (cheapest) way to get our bandwidth to our customers," insists Mueller. Considering Qwest serves around 10 million customers, it's responsible, but not particularly ambitious.
I guess FTTN is a step towards FTTH, but why is Qwest halfassing it? Commit the bucks, roll the trucks, and let's get out of the 20th century.

Yauch
join:2005-06-24

Yauch

Member

.

said by TFA :

it's responsible, but not particularly ambitious.
Things are rarely both.

Phylop
Premium Member
join:2002-11-17
Reston, VA

1 edit

1 recommendation

Phylop

Premium Member

Where's my symetrical 45mbps?

I don't know if everyone has forgotten, but the telcos were given $200,000,000,000 in order to deploy 45Mbps connections to a good chunk of the country by 2006. The whole FTTP/FTTH/FTTN, has been pretty half-assed in respect to this.

So, this is why I get really pissed off when a big broadband provider goes on and on about how they are being innovative and "upgrading" their customers, and then charging us more and more for these speeds. Technically we've already paid for it, and haven't gotten it! Why does this country let big corporations get away with this, and then suck the life out of it's citizens?
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: Where's my symetrical 45mbps?

Not challenging you.. but, do you have any links to information that speaks of this?

If this is in fact true, then maybe it's time to launch law suits?

Phylop
Premium Member
join:2002-11-17
Reston, VA

Phylop

Premium Member

Re: Where's my symetrical 45mbps?

said by fiberguy2:

Not challenging you.. but, do you have any links to information that speaks of this?

If this is in fact true, then maybe it's time to launch law suits?
»www.saschameinrath.com/2 ··· d_for_it

»www.newnetworks.com/broa ··· dals.htm

»www.metafilter.com/48795 ··· ve-Fraud

»www.muniwireless.com/art ··· iew/5011

They all link back to the book $200 Billion Broadband Scandal.

CCTVTech
Premium Member
join:2003-04-23
Phoenix, AZ

CCTVTech

Premium Member

Upload?

20M down is great but what about the upload speed?
I have 7M down & 800K up, I just wish I had 2M up.

Tzale
Proud Libertarian Conservative
Premium Member
join:2004-01-06
NYC Metro

Tzale

Premium Member

Re: Upload?

said by CCTVTech:

20M down is great but what about the upload speed?
I have 7M down & 800K up, I just wish I had 2M up.
By then, I expect FTTH/FTTP/FTTN will has to be symmetrical to be competitive. We're already seeing Verizon rolling out 20mbps/20mbps for $60/month, so I don't see why in 2 years it won't become the defacto standard for SOME companies.

-Tzale
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Qwest has seen the light?

Really? Hmmm... Fttn equipment is going to have to be loads cheaper for qwest to make a serious dent in it's upgrades. Not even AT&T is optimistic of getting 20/20 to the customer. What makes anyone think that qwest can get there any sooner?

Look out for exploding batteries!
And that hammer lady;
»birdhouse.org/blog/2007/ ··· -granny/

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Re: Qwest has seen the light?

said by tmc8080:

Really? Hmmm... Fttn equipment is going to have to be loads cheaper for qwest to make a serious dent in it's upgrades. Not even AT&T is optimistic of getting 20/20 to the customer. What makes anyone think that qwest can get there any sooner?

Look out for exploding batteries!
And that hammer lady;
»birdhouse.org/blog/2007/ ··· -granny/
Oh i'm all for this. no i would NEVER EVER go qwest ever again but it *might* get cox to bump their upload speeds to 2mbps[like in fios areas]
jaminus
join:2004-10-14
Arlington, VA

jaminus

Member

Better late than never. Welcome to the 21st century, Qwest

In my auxiliary residence I have Qwest DSL 1.5/896 for $34 a month including Qwest.net basic ISP. I'm pretty satisfied overall and I actually think Qwest is underrated around these forums. There's no noticeable throttling of P2P, no slowdowns ever, packet loss and latency are consistent (except for interleaving. arrgh. anyone know when FastPath is coming for Qwest users?)

I can get 3/640 for another $10 a month but losing 256k up while paying a third more is senseless. Qwest markets 5 and 7 mbps service in my area but they said repeatedly I'm only eligible for 3mbps. My aux. home is in one of my state's few affluent suburban areas so hopefully my CO is high on the upgrade list.

I'm 8k as the crow flies, 11k by car to my CO. I know VDSL has much stricter distance limitations than ADSL. Anyone have any idea if I'll be able to get VDSL and if so how fast realistically should I expect?

JRKy
Woops
join:2002-04-13
Colorado Springs, CO

2 edits

JRKy

Member

FTTN - Druel.

I'm in a newer neighborhood here in COS and have had 7/896 service for about three years. No idea where the CO is that's feeding this neighborhood but it's screaming. Would gladly up service to FTTN - vroom, vroom!

Sefirato
Turambar, Master of Fate
Premium Member
join:2002-05-08
Anchorage, AK

Sefirato

Premium Member

Re: FTTN - Druel.

I'm in Village Seven here in Colorado Springs and the max down I can get is 1.5/896. I've been looking forward to faster speeds for a long time now and haven't seen them come around to this area.

Funny thing: I visited one of my friend's home down out near Widefield/Security (off of Bradley Road, again off of S. Academy) and the neighborhood is a lot less affluent than ours and they have 7/896 down there... go figure. There's a lot of business/residential homes around here, I wonder why they're not giving us that speed by now.

However, I have noticed as of late that I'm seeing a lot of Qwest trucks in the neighborhood (several!) doing some work, it looks like they were laying down some fiber but I never stopped by to ask the kind folks that were working on it to see what they were up to. As of this time, I will *assume* that they are installing fiber. I need to keep my hopes high for a higher speed within the next year.
djweis
join:2006-04-02
West Des Moines, IA

djweis

Member

Probably ADSL2+

Q has been planting a lot of new Adtran outside plant DSLAM's around Des Moines. They have a gig fiber uplink available on them and can do ATM and IP at the same time depending on how you configure them.

I have heard rumors that independent ISP's that can get on the ATM based network won't be on the new FTTN network in the immediate future.
eandrews
join:2002-07-22
Scottsdale, AZ

eandrews

Member

AZ better be first

I have VDSL in Scottsdale and this couldn't happen sooner. The 3M down now needs a serious upgrade. Hopefully I am one of the ones that qualify in 2007!!!

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Cheyenne will see....

such speeds the day after SETI detects the first intelligent interstellar broadcast signal.
eandrews
join:2002-07-22
Scottsdale, AZ

eandrews

Member

Re: AZ better be first

Has anyone in the PHX valley called qwest yet to inquire about these new speeds? Does anyone even know who to call? I will try the normal VDSL support and see if they know anything....

no_one
@PHNX.QWEST.NET

no_one

Anon

Re: AZ better be first

said by eandrews:

Has anyone in the PHX valley called qwest yet to inquire about these new speeds? Does anyone even know who to call? I will try the normal VDSL support and see if they know anything....
This will probably be adsl2. So VDSL more than likely out of luck. Grandfathered old technology.

I2K
@charter.com

I2K

Anon

What About Us?!?

I'm in a Qwest territory that offers DSL to probably about half of the phone subscribers in the area. I have been calling for months about the prospect of getting the 7 Mb DSL, but every time I call, they continue to tell me the best I can get is 1.5 Mb DSL in my area. I've been directed to Qwest.com and Qwest's website confirms the highest speed tier I can get is 1.5 Mb. Thanks Qwest for offering DSL, but lets get on board with what century we are in. My cable company, Charter Communications, offers speeds tiers up to 10 Mb...I currently subscribe to a 5 Mb package. I would like to give DSL a try, but Qwest seriously needs to get on board with their offerings. I refuse to try DSL if it means downgrading my internet connection. Now if 7 Mb DSL would come to my area...I would be there in a minute!
Cyber2lz
join:2001-11-15
Odessa, FL

Cyber2lz

Member

20/5

1490nm in and 1310nm out of DWDM optic into my house!
That's what I'm talking about !!! $49.95 AFTER the first 6 months. $39.95 2nd 5 months with the first month FREE.
FIOS, yea baby!
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

Rick5

Premium Member

As much as I despise AT&T's Uverse service

rollout...I actually think that this will work out for Qwest and is a good move on their part.

Why? Because it appears that this will be ALL about improving HSI connections and NOT about their trying to be a TV service provider over this type of an infrastructure.

Kudo's to qwest for recognizing that and what they CAN be in the face of this broadband revolution that is upon us.

A 20Mb HSI pipe will be a damn good one via copper/vdsl technology. And, very competitive with anything the cable co's have.

AT&T and their pewverse service..on the other hand..is trying to be all things to all people..and succeeding at none of them IMHO.

Bottom line..if you want to be a TV and HSI provider..Verizon has the right idea with FTTH.

But..if you want to improve on HSI while keeping costs in line..Qwest is doing it right.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

1 edit

en102

Member

Re: As much as I despise AT&T's Uverse service

I agree that Qwest is doing the right thing.
Satellite + high end DSL is a good combo.

AT&T is making some decent work, however, its reliability factor is not the best.
While I think AT&T 'can' do IPTV over POTS, their maintenance, Windows based STBs and reliability are not there for me.
While I don't need 20Mbps (or even care right now), I do need reliable service on both TV (wife/kid factor) and Internet (work). Qwest has kept it simple, and should do well.

I'd personally prefer the VDSL+VoIP+DirecTv combo as I know it _will_ work decently.

jslik
That just happened
Premium Member
join:2006-03-17

jslik

Premium Member

Then why?

"Mueller insisted that the company was sticking with satellite as their video bundle option, and won't be pursuing IPTV like AT&T. That's in keeping with previous company statements that they'll continue to rely on bundled DirecTV service and portal content as their video play."

Then why has Qwest been pushing (and still continues) to push for statewide video franchising if they're not going to get into the video/cable business?

Finalnight8
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE

1 edit

Finalnight8

Member

Re: Then why?

Oh Great! Fiber to the node! Oh wait, since they won't build any new nodes or repeaters here in MN (they say they are gonna go FTTH eventually, no new investment up here in DSL), I am still stuck in a 1.5 Mbps zone. Gonna just stick with my 4 Mbps cable.

veldy
join:1999-08-04
Minneapolis, MN

veldy

Member

Sorry Ed ...

Sorry Ed Mueller, but $300 million just isn't going to do it. Take a look at the price tag that Comcast and Verizon has spent on their infrastructure upgrades ... QWest has 100 years of patched and barely maintained copper that they simply won't part with.
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