The last thing we want to do is take on 100 million guys who are paper pushers.

Even the visionaries are groping a little bit.

It does not appear to be a Level 3 issue.

You're going to see those two trends crisscross in the not-so-distant future.

This transaction represents a unique opportunity to expand Level 3's footprint in the southeastern region of the United States, where we have seen strong demand for our services.

In one instance this quarter, a number of Level 3 customers and Cogent customers were hurt, ... I apologize to both sets of customers...We recognize that we have an obligation to customers of the Internet and, in this instance, we contributed to letting them down.

There's no shame in losing this way. I'm proud.

[Investors have raised] honest, legitimate questions ... But we're near or already have hit bottom as an industry . . . we feel pretty good about the future.