 for insider company profiles, expert advice, VAULT CAREER career message boards, expert resume reviews, the Vault Job Board and more. LIBRARY Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Employers Qwest Communications International, Inc. THE SCOOP Qwest for success Opening its doors in 1988, Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc. quickly became a major player in the telecommunications market. It is currently one of the largest long-distance providers in the U.S. and has over 190,000 miles of fiber- optic cable worldwide. The company has ambitions to grow even bigger - Qwest has extended an offer to purchase another telecom giant, MCI. However, MCI has another suitor in the form of Verizon Communications, as of late February 2005, MCI's board had not voted to accept Qwest's offer. Railroad ties Qwest's roots can be traced to the railroad industry. The company's founder, Philip Anschutz, began the Southern Pacific Telecommunications Company as a subsidiary to Southern Pacific Rail, with the intent of building fiber optic lines alongside the rail tracks. Anschutz eventually sold off the rail company, but retained ownership of the telecom business, which by that time had become a long-distance provider in the Southwest. In 1995, Southern Pacific Telecommunications acquired Qwest Communications and continued business under the acquired company's name. In 1997, the same year that the company went public, Qwest made headlines by bringing former AT&T executive Joseph Nacchio on board as CEO. Early acquisitions In March 1998, Qwest made a name for itself by acquiring LCI International Inc. for $4.4 billion. The combined companies created the fourth-largest long-distance company in the country. Later that month, Qwest acquired Amsterdam-based ISP EUnet to help position itself in the European Internet market. The company continued its expansion strategy in September of that year, purchasing Icon CMT for $185 million in stock. U.S. West acquisition, layoffs Qwest took a page out of the 1980s corporate handbook in 1999, when