Level 3, DSLnetworks Claim 1st Nationwide DSL Service

Level 3 Communications Inc. and DSLnetworks have joined forces to deliver what they say is the first cohesive, national digital subscriber line service to Internet and applications service providers. Essentially, they will wholesale DSL service to the providers over Level 3's national IP backbone and DSLnetworks' last-mile DSL infrastructure.

DSLnetworks will get access to Level 3 customers. Level 3 will bethe exclusive provider of IP-network connectivity and Internet access for DSLnetworks' business customers. Geoff Jordan, Level 3's director of global strategic alliances, says his company took the partnership tactic rather than build its own DSL service.

Adam Guglielmo, an analyst for market researcher TeleChoice, says the alliance is significant. AT&T and Qwest Communications International Inc., for example, don't have the kind of IP backbone Level 3 and DSLnetworks will have. That backbone will let them deploy services from a centralized location on their network. This will make it possible for the companies to deliver those services cost-effectively and with a greater degree of control.