Fiber-optic entity Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q), whose colleagues include Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T), and Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), reported Q4 numbers on Tuesday. Revenues declined by 3%, and adjusted income came in at 12 cents per share, which, according to this article, beat estimates by two pennies.

Well, I have to say, I've been wrong about Qwest. When I last wrote about the tech company, I had a very bearish view. I think Qwest's stock gained a buck since that piece, which is like a huge percentage gain when you consider that the shares closed yesterday at $3.45. The market seems to be liking Qwest's prospects. Going back to that article I cited concerning the earnings beat, I see some positive opinion on Qwest's quarter. I'll agree, it wasn't bad, especially when the economy is considered. The company did well in terms of cash flow: cash from operations for the year was roughly flat while adjusted free cash flow came in at $1.4 billion.

"Investors have been focusing on the shortcomings at Qwest Communications International (NYSE: Q), and to be sure, it has plenty," observes turnaround specialist George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he adds, "But the company also has very valuable assets and strong cash flow. In addition, we believe the stock would command a good premium in a takeover." Here's his bullish review.

"Following its IPO in 1995, Qwest expanded via acquisitions and partnerships, and participated in the telecom bubble of the late 1990's.

"Unlike many of the other high-flying telecoms of that era, however, Qwest realized that in addition to a story you needed customers. In 2000, it went out and acquired US West, which gave Qwest the revenue base to survive the bursting of the telecom bubble

"Although the company survived, the shareholders have had a rocky ride during the current decade. The stock peaked around 60 in 2000, dropped to just above 1 in 2002, rebounded to 10 in 2007 and then declined to its present level.

"Management's challenge is too maximize the value of its assets. One of Qwest's greatest assets, and biggest challenges, is its huge traditional landline telephone business. The landline business is in a slow but steady decline as customers move to wireless or Internet telephony.

During his career, boxing great and former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier reversed -- and ended -- many bouts in his favor with a nearly imperceptible but devastating left-cross that usually left his opponent on the boxing ring's mat.

While the broadband era remains in its infancy with no doubt many permutations and evolutions up ahead, it looks like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has landed a left-cross on cable company broadband providers with the roll-out of its FiOS fiber optic Internet service.

The Frazier fight analogy is appropriate here because like Frazier's opponents, cable companies such as Cablevision (NYSE:CVC) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had taken the lead over the telecom companies with cable's faster-speed Internet technology, in some cases more than five times as fast as telecom's best product, enhanced DSL. Subsequent cable company bundling of preferred broadband/cable TV/phone services -- the triple play -- gave cable companies an even larger lead in the broadband bout by lowering per-item service prices.

But like that dreaded Frazier left-cross, Verizon's FiOS could leave the cable companies reeling and on the mat. That's because VZ's fiber optic network is expected to offer Internet speeds that are substantially faster than cable networks, with improved reliability.