Level 3

(Level 3 Communications, Broomfield, CO, www.level3.com) A telecommunications carrier and one of the world's largest Internet backbone companies founded in 1985 as Kiewit Diversified Group (KDG). KDG was a wholly owned subsidiary of Peter Kiewit Sons', Inc., a prominent construction company that was founded in 1884. In 1998, KDG changed its name to Level 3 and spun itself off as a public company. The name of the company comes from the IP protocol, which is a "layer 3" networking protocol (see layer 3).

Level 3 built a nationwide fiber network based on IP with links to Europe and Asia. It provides fiber access directly to office buildings as well as end-to-end voice and data services. With nearly $3 billion in capital from Peter Kiewit Sons' and expertise from many people who previously worked for MFS (created under Kiewit and later sold to WorldCom), Level 3 packed a huge wallop as a startup. Private line and co-location services were first offered in 1998. With all the meltdown of telecom companies after the turn of the century, Level 3 remained a player.

In 2002, Level 3 acquired Corporate Software and Software Spectrum, two software resellers, making it the nation's leader in software distribution. By the third quarter of 2002, software accounted for three quarters of Level 3's revenues. Although perplexing analysts, the company expects that all corporate software will be downloaded in the future. In 2003, Level 3 purchased Genuity, a company with historical connections to the builders of the original Internet (see BBN).

In 2006, five more companies were acquired in the telecom, data transport and optical network areas, including ICG Communications, Looking Glass Networks and Broadwing Corporation.