Rich Baer is chief legal officer at Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc., the nation’s third-largest telecommunications company. Within Qwest’s 14-state local service territory, it provides residential customers with Internet, digital home phone and wireless services. As telecommunications services become commodities, providers are coming under pressure to distinguish themselves. Qwest sees innovation as the way to do that, Baer said.
As with many technology firms, the recession has crimped Qwest’s growth — the company lost 15% of its work force through the third quarter of 2009. Qwest reported revenues last year of about $13 billion and employs some 31,000 people.
