New boss could refresh VDSL

Qwest’s stale relationship with VDSL and its primary vendor, NextLevel Communications likely will get a once-over with Richard Notebaert as CEO.

Although NLC executives insisted the Qwest relationship is not broken, Notebaert should be easier to deal with than the abrasive Joseph Nacchio, whose often-belligerent insistence on lowering equipment costs left NLC executives frazzled and wondering about Qwest’s commitment to the video space. Nacchio’s persistence, however, did pay off with cheaper gear, executives admitted.

Notebaert’s experience launching Ameritech’s cable effort and more recent work with the cable industry as Tellabs’ CEO “gives him a really unique perspective as to what the other side of the fence is doing,” said Geoff Burke, NLC’s marketing services director.

It also gives him a once-bitten outlook, said Ryan Jones, an analyst with The Yankee Group.

“He’s a video guy, but he’s a video guy from what, to some extent, was a failed project,” Jones said. “Nacchio was, to some extent, a video guy too.”

Ameritech’s cable unit was sold last year to WideOpenWest, which continues to operate the systems throughout the Midwest.

“I wish I could say this is the event to make it all happen, but there are too many variables to make a black-and-white statement at this point,” Jones said.

NLC is heartened, though, by the personal relationship between Notebaert and its chairman and CEO, Michael Norris.

“The introductions are already done,” said Jeff Barnell, NLC’s senior vice president of marketing. “We’ve worked with Qwest for a number of years to put the products in a position where the business plan makes sense. We’ve given him a platform he can move forward with quite easily.”

Click on our June 24 Cover Story for more stories about Qwest.