Qwest’s future? A big pipe.

Qwests new CEO just may get it. Recently outlining his 5 point plan for the company’s future, he’s the only duopoly CEO so far who seems committed to investing in access for the quality of access. Consumers and businesses will like this.

His plan included five key areas:

- Continue to offer customers simplified, integrated solutions, such as its price-for-life high-speed Internet offering.

- Deepen current partnerships and forge new ones. Qwest has more than 600,000 video subscribers through reselling DirecTV satellite-TV service.

- Increase broadband capacity to residential and business customers. As previously announced, Qwest will spend $300 million next year on an Internet project that will give 1.5 million homes speeds of up to 20 megabits per second.

- Drive productivity and cost efficiency.

- Balance investment and profitable growth with return to shareholders. The company announced an 8 cent per share quarterly dividend last week, its first in six years.

As expected, the announcement didn’t include plans for a broad video rollout. (from the Denver Post)

Conventional Third Pipe wisdom says Qwest has the best strategy for long term profitability out of all of the duopoly players. Putting the capital into the pipes rather than trying to be in the cable TV business will make Wall Street happy, eventually.