Telecom Ramblings

Level 3 Business Markets announced a contract today with Bostwick Laboratories, providing them with on-net services including internet access, VoIP, and enhanced network services.  The deal is a welcome one for Level 3, which is still seeking to prove to the market that its enterprise division has legs.  Medical data infrastructure deals like this are the bread and butter of TW Telecom, and Level 3 would like to start making its own name in the sector.

This deal is representative of the type Level 3 would like to win going forward:  multiple markets, data intensive, and every single bit of it on-net.  You can see why Level 3 was in a good position to win this deal of course.  The facilities to be linked were in the metro areas of Richmond, Nashville, Phoenix, Orlando, and New York – all amongst Level 3’s deepest fiber markets.  With Bostwick’s headquarters in metro Richmond, where Level 3 has an extensive metro network (of Telcove heritage), there just weren’t that many bidders that could run fiber to all locations.

One might take this PR as a signal that the business markets division is transitioning from an inward get-the-house-in-order mode to an outward ramp-the-sales mode.  Or it could be a false start, who knows.  In 4 weeks we will get our quarterly glimpse at how things are going, perhaps the future will start to get a little clearer.