Qwest's delayed next-gen broadband plan (leaked to us first last Summer) is to spend $300 million to deliver 20Mbps ADSL2+ to about 1.5 million customers over the next two years. The company is also testing line-bonded VDSL at speeds of 38Mbps, but they've repeatedly stated they aren't interested in being a video provider. From the limited scope of their upgrades (Compare Qwest's plan to the $6.5 billion AT&T is spending on U-Verse and the $23 billion Verizon is spending on FiOS), they're apparently barely interested in being a broadband provider.

Qwest hopes to see a FTTN penetration rate of 40% by 2010, with upgrades costing the company around $175 per home. So far, Qwest has been mum on the pricing and name of the new 20Mbps tier, but we're starting to see rumbling in our forums that it should be somewhere around $100, provided you bundle phone service. At the very least, the new tiers are expected to look something like this if you bundle and sign a long-term contract:We're seeking confirmation from Qwest, though they traditionally don't comment on looming launches. There's also rumors surfacing that some slower Qwest DSL tiers could see a $3 price hike very soon. If anyone at Qwest has additional info on the looming launch, please drop us a line.

Update: Digging through the Qwest website, we noticed that the prices are starting to show up on Qwest's website for some locations, and the prices are different depending on the amount of local competition. A screen grab we took just now using zip code 99362:
The price for 20Mbps/1Mbps service without phone service is $105, a price that jumps to $115 per month after a year. The price for 12Mbps/1Mbps service in that market is $52 a month, a price that jumps to $65 a month after 12 months. Still no official announcement from the company, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it surface this week.