UPDATE 2-Level 3 third-qtr loss widens, shares fall

* Q3 loss/shr of 10 cents meet estimates

* Q3 revenue down 14 pct

* Shares down as much as 14 percent (Recasts; Adds conference call details, analyst comments, updates share movement)

By Shrutika Verma

BANGALORE, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Telecommunications service provider Level 3 Communications Inc LVLT.O posted a wider quarterly loss on lower sales at its core network services segment, sending its shares down 14 percent.

For the third quarter, the company's core network services revenue, which contributed about 77 percent of total revenue, was down 11 percent to $701 million.

"One of the things that explains why revenues were soft this quarter was because they had some continued high churn amongst their consumer businesses and then, on top of that, they had pricing pressure on their IP business," Piper Jaffray analyst Christopher Larsen said.

Level 3's core network services revenue includes revenue from transport and infrastructure, IP and data services, local and enterprise voice services.

Third-quarter was not exactly what people were looking for and probably the outlook is not for a quick turnaround in the business, Larsen said.

However, Level 3 expects fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) to be up sequentially and said it expects to continue low double digit year-over-year revenue growth on a constant currency basis.

Third-quarter net loss increased to $170 million, or 10 cents per share, from $129 million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 14 percent to $916 million.

Analysts expected a loss of 10 cents a share, excluding exceptional items, on revenue of $926.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA fell 16.5 percent to $213 million.

The Broomfield, Colorado-based company also reiterated its adjusted EBITDA of $900 million to $950 million for 2009.

Shares of the company, which have lost 22 percent of their value in the last three months, were down 13 percent at $1.18 Wednesday on Nasdaq. They touched a low of $1.17 earlier in the day. (Reporting by Shrutika Verma in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Unnikrishnan Nair)