Level 3 exec discusses mid-market expansion

Level 3 Communications' Business Markets Group is expanding its offerings in five markets to try to win a larger part of the mid-market enterprise telecom spend. The company is bolstering sales and support staff and hiring a general manager to make more localized decisions in Seattle, Washington, D.C., Nashville, the upstate New York region, and the Denver/Colorado Springs area.

Jeff Tench, president of the Business Markets Group, said the company selected these regions for expansion due to strong underlying demand and existing customer relationships.

"Our target customers for this expansion need voice, data and private network services, and we can provide a strong local presence with our network assets, while also giving them a global network reach," Tench said. "We want to do a better job leveraging our existing fiber assets in these areas, as we feel that there is significant demand in these markets for an alternative to the local exchange carrier's options."

Tench said Level 3's global reach and network capacity let enterprise customers handle volatile bandwidth demands, while the company's renewed local focus gives flexibility for rapid managerial response to its enterprise customers' concerns. He said that while other carriers may be retrenching during the recession, Level 3 plans to use its stable financial and operational position to expand and take share in the mid-market. Tench defined a mid-market enterprise as one that spends roughly $5,000 on telecom services per month and said his group hopes to double sales in each of the initial target markets. 

For more:
- see the Level 3 press release on the expansions here 

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