Qwest this week said it signed a three-year deal with the City of Los Angeles Information Technology Agency to provide data networking services.

The ITA manages Los Angeles' infrastructure and systems, and implements new technologies. It will use Qwest’s iQ Networking private WAN service to connect to its Washington, D.C., office and deliver redundant Internet connectivity to the city.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the city will pay as much as $500,000 for a high-speed Internet connection that supplements a similar contract with the city’s main provider, AT&T.

Los Angeles is is at full capacity on the AT&T line and needs the Qwest line for expansion, the paper reports.

Qwest launched iQ Networking in 2004 as the company’s convergence platform supporting VoIP, messaging and other IP applications.