Level 3 counts on future of IP

BROOMFIELD — Level 3 Communications Inc., a communications and information services company, less than two years ago began presenting plans for the local, long-distance and undersea data transfer and communications network of the future.

Businesses’ needs in 50 U.S.cities and 21 international cities will be served with a network based on fiber-optics and Internet Protocol (IP). At a cost of $8 billion to $10 billion, the network ultimately will include multiple loops in individual cities, a 16,000-mile inter-city network, 16 European cities, 3,500-mile pan-European network, six Asian cities and undersea capacity.

The plan places Level 3’s world headquarters in Interlocken…