Qwest Communications International Inc. put itself on the broadband services grid Tuesday by confirming plans to spend $300 million over two years for a fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) infrastructure that will provide 20mbps pipes to some 1.5 million customers.

    While AT&T Inc.,Verizon Communications Inc. and smaller regional telcos have been collectively pouring billions into broadband bundles to the home over the last few years, Qwest has chosen to keep a low profile, largely avoiding huge-ticket landline projects.

    On the video front, Qwest has relied primarily on delivering TV services via arrangements with satellite operators, to customers in its large geographical and rural region, a key fact that’s much less of a factor for Verizon, for example. BellSouth augmented its efforts with satellite arrangements as has AT&T before and after it acquired the company.

    Like Qwest with this deal, AT&T relies primarily on a FTTN architecture which employs DSL widely to deliver 25mbps of bandwidth to its U-verse triple-play customers. AT&T had found this limiting in delivering HD streams until recent advances in video compression made bandwidth a non factor, it said.

    And while video services seems to be getting all the attention in broadband rollout projects, increasing demand for higher-speed Internet access is also a key driver with several operators with FTTx nets already offering 25MB and 50mbps symmetric links to better accommodate Web video consumption and delay-insensitive interactive gaming.

    Qwest’s $300 million undertaking, pales in comparison to the commitments made by RBHCs AT&T and Verizon, which together are spending well over $10 million to bring video-driven service bundles to a long list of markets.