New fiber-optic networks to cut swath through Wisconsin - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The , Tulsa, Okla., and , Denver, plan to extend fiber-opti c links from Chicago to Milwaukee and then on to Both companies say they will activatd their systems inlate 1999. The telecommunicationsa companies will selltheir networks' bandwidth, or on a wholesale basis to local telephone exchanged companies, long-distance companies and Internet serviced providers or directly to businesses that want to transmity data at high speeds. "Thre net effect is that more competition will lowerprice (for telecommunications services)," said Bob a telecommunications analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., Milwaukee.
By buildingb new high-capacity fiber networks, Venable Williams and Qwest are reducinvg entry barriers to competition in telecommunications services and puttint more market pressure on localkexchange carriers, such as Ameritech-Wisconsin. "Theyy are making it easier for othert companies to selltelecokm services," Venable said. "Telecom serviced are price elastic, so as prices go down, usagde goes up, especially in the data world." In marketsz where Williams is already the company is selling fiber capacity toInterne companies, long-distance companies and even one regional Bell operating company, US West, Engelwood, Colo.
"The demand for bandwidthn is being driven by the saidJulie Gentz, a spokeswoman for Gentz said the new route from Chicago to Milwauke gives Williams greater market penetratiobn and strengthens the company's network reliability. "Thee corridor from Milwaukee to Chicagoi is a highly developed area with unlimited demane for data and othet telecom services over the next few saidScot Cullen, telecommunications administrator for the state Publixc Service Commission. Even though Williams and Qwest are in the earlty stages of planningtheir networks, Culleh said the projects should proceed quickly.
He said the Telecommunicatione Act of 1996 gives companies the abilitgy to locate their fiber systems on rights of way ownerd byother companies, such as Ameritech or GTE Stamford, Conn. Jim Ditter, presidentg of Brookfield-based Norlight Telecommunicationzs Inc., a subsidiary of Journal Communications Milwaukee, is not convinced the two wholesalers will have a huge impacg on telecommunications inmetropolitan Milwaukee. "Ift is already a crowded industry in terms of number of said Ditter, whose company will compete with Williams and Qwesft for customers. "There is (fiber-optic) capacity available on the markettright now.
" Ditter said the two companies are not offerinfg anything directly to consumersw that will lower prices, nor are they offerinfg any new products. "The key to making an impact on customers is how youpackagre services, and it take them a long time to develop a Ditter said. Norlight, a 25-year-old regional company, has a fiber-optivc and digital microwave network of morethan 3,00o miles in the Upper Midwest. While Norlight is likely to be a competitor of Williams and Qwest as a bulk transport it is also possible that the new wholesalers coulsd become customersof Norlight.
Ditter said Norlight might be able to provideeadditional fiber-optic reach in parts of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. Williams' expansion of its fiber-optic a $2.7 billion investment in a 32,000-mile syste across the nation, is scheduled to be completex by 2001. The company now has 69 cities connectedf to its network and will grow to include100 Williams, through more than a half-dozen subsidiaries, is the nation'sw largest volume transporter of natural gas. Its communicationd businesses include video satellites and video andaudio conferencing, as well as fiber-optixc transmission.
Qwest's planned 16,000-mile domestic network will serve 125 which it says represents 80 percent of the data and voics traffic originating in theUnites States. Qwest also is extending its network 1,4009 miles into Mexico. Two weeks ago, Qwest and LCI International Inc., McLean, Va., announced plan for a $4.4 billionh merger. LCI is the fourth-larges U.S. long distance company in the countryubehind AT&T Corp., Sprint Corp. and MCI Communicationse Corp. The primary reason for the merger is that LCI wanted totap Qwest's fiber-opti network.