• Technologies
    • Black Lotus Labs
    • Cloud
    • Edge Compute
    • Collaboration
    • Managed Services
    • Network
    • Security
  • Business Advice
    • 4th Industrial Revolution
    • Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
    • Customer Experience
    • Data Driven Business
    • Operational Efficiency
    • Tech Trends
  • Industries
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Gaming
    • Manufacturing
    • Media and Entertainment
    • Pharmaceutical
    • Public Sector
    • Retail
    • Technology
  • About Us
    • Leadership Perspectives
    • NewsRoom
  • Technologies
    • Black Lotus Labs
    • Cloud
    • Edge Compute
    • Collaboration
    • Managed Services
    • Network
    • Security
  • Business Advice
    • 4th Industrial Revolution
    • Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
    • Customer Experience
    • Data Driven Business
    • Operational Efficiency
    • Tech Trends
  • Industries
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Gaming
    • Manufacturing
    • Media and Entertainment
    • Pharmaceutical
    • Public Sector
    • Retail
    • Technology
  • About Us
    • Leadership Perspectives
    • NewsRoom

Fiber to the Rescue! A Data-Driven World Needs an Adaptive Fiber Network

Andrew Dugan Posted On September 26, 2019
0


0
Shares
  • Share On Facebook
  • Tweet It

It’s a transformational time for network operators. Enterprise businesses, content providers and government agencies are generating more and more data, with a need to move it faster and faster. AI, 5G and IoT are leading the digital transformation but are creating volumes of data, demanding a robust and agile network that stays ahead of this surge.

Fiber to the rescue.

Fiber is one of the fastest forms of broadband technology, serving as the backbone to the internet and providing some of the fastest speeds available for effectively operating businesses of all sizes, as well as powering video entertainment, gaming and smart home devices. As a technology leader, CenturyLink’s core value is our massive fiber optic infrastructure. Here’s a look at how we use that fiber infrastructure to quickly and securely connect our customers to an enhanced digital experience.

Long-Haul Network

Many companies talk about the strength of their network, but CenturyLink has spent the past 20 years creating its global and national long-haul network by carefully selecting fiber infrastructure from some of the best domestic and international companies in the world through various acquisitions. We operate approximately 450,000 route miles of fiber across our global network, one of the most deeply peered and well-connected networks in the world. That fiber provides connectivity and network solutions to customers worldwide and connects continents by crossing oceans with sub-sea fiber. We designed a fully redundant network foundation with multiple routes to maximize availability. This network benefits businesses, web scalers, government agencies and providers seeking reliable fiber capacity that can scale to meet the next wave of data that is changing the way we live, work, and interact.

Metro Network

Our fiber and conduit reach deeper into metro markets responding to low latency data delivery needs from robotic manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality applications, and more. CenturyLink connects more than 150,000 enterprise buildings directly to the data and applications they need to respond and operate in the digital age. Fiber provides the capacity needed to connect in real-time to cloud-based services, saving time, simplifying operations, and delivering products and services faster than ever imagined. CenturyLink provides high-capacity, private connectivity to more than 2,200 public and private cloud data centers across the globe, including top web scalers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. We continue to invest in expanding our fiber network and the number of on-net fiber-fed buildings and are committed to bringing that fiber directly into customer sites, covering more and more “last mile” distances. Through our metro networks, CenturyLink offers highly scalable and dynamic business solutions, including a full mix of virtual network services and applications that enable instant response to the accelerating demands of a data-driven world.

Dark Fiber

Dark fiber allows customers to create highly scalable networks, allowing for the expansion of capacity by simply adding more electronics to the end of the fiber. We actively sell dark fiber to an array of content providers and large enterprises and are working with major wireless operators to support them with their 5G initiatives to expand their network and capabilities. Over the past three years, CenturyLink created the largest ultra-low-loss fiber network in the world by expanding its network capacity by 3.5 million miles of fiber across the U.S. and has invested heavily in metro and regional network expansions. This expanded fiber network positions CenturyLink to meet the needs of companies seeking highly reliable, low-latency network infrastructure designed to move massive amounts of data.

Edge Computing

Our local fiber presence also allows us to bring the cloud closer to businesses with edge compute and storage resources located throughout the country. CenturyLink is taking its fiber assets and combining them with our widely distributed central offices, data centers, and local network points of presence to distribute computing resources at the edge of the network. We just announced that we’ll invest several hundred-million-dollars into an edge-focused strategy that includes creating more than 100 initial edge compute locations across the U.S. By utilizing our facilities, we can move our customers’ computing resources very close to the network edge allowing businesses and government agencies to leverage a highly diverse, global fiber network with edge facilities designed to serve their local locations within 5 milliseconds of latency. We are currently exploring use cases for deploying customer-facing and infrastructure services at the edge, including those in support of 5G rollouts. As a technology company, we are constantly evaluating products and services that we can integrate with our customers’ applications to enhance their businesses.

CenturyLink’s network was designed to help meet our customers’ business challenges. Whether it’s dark fiber for supporting 5G deployment, adaptive networking for multinational enterprises or SD-WAN and high-speed broadband for small and medium businesses, we can meet their location-specific network challenges.

We will continue to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in our fiber infrastructure every year by expanding our metro fiber footprint, continually adding new buildings, and increasing our long-haul fiber inventory. Taking our fiber deeper and closer to customers helps us to be ready for inevitable technology changes.

Our fiber is fueling growth and innovation and we will continue to find ways to enhance and expand it to meet our customers growing and evolving needs. As a trusted connection to the networked world, we are focused on delivering technology that enables the digital business and enhances the customer experience.

See how an adaptive nework could help your organization become more effective.

Learn More

Related posts:

  1. How The Network Became A Good Friend You Can Trust, Especially In Times Like These
  2. Part 1: Managed, Unmanaged And Co-managed SD-WAN — Which Solution Is Right For You?
  3. Part 2 | 7 Criteria to Guide Your Managed SD-WAN Partner Selection
  4. Riding the Wave: The Name of the Game Is Cooperation
0
Shares
  • Share On Facebook
  • Tweet It


Adaptive NetworkFiberLumen


Author

Andrew Dugan

Andrew Dugan is Chief Technology Officer for Lumen. In this role, he is responsible for the development, integration and deployment of Lumen’s global network, supporting each market where Lumen operates. Andrew has more than 30 years of experience in building telecommunications networks, switching platforms and services platforms. He previously served as Lumen’s senior vice president of technology planning, network architecture and security. Prior to that, he held a variety of roles at Level 3 Communications before being named the company’s Chief Technology Officer in 2016. Andrew also worked for AT&T Bell Laboratories and MCI WorldCom.

Trending Now
Digital-First Starts With Your Network Provider
Shannon Lynch February 7, 2023
5 Observations from Lumen on 2022 Attack Trends
Kaitlin McIntyre February 6, 2023
You may also like
5 Observations from Lumen on 2022 Attack Trends
February 6, 2023
Why Fiber Internet Is Essential For Your Business
January 25, 2023
ESnet6 powers scientific research around the world
January 10, 2023
Serving the Mission: Modernizing Federal Agencies
Read Next

Serving the Mission: Modernizing Federal Agencies

  • Categories

    Adaptive Networking

    Connected Security

    Hybrid Cloud

    Communications and Collaboration

    Edge Computing

    SASE


  • Lumen is guided by our belief that humanity is at its best when technology advances the way we live and work. With 450,000 route fiber miles serving customers in more than 60 countries, we deliver the fastest, most secure platform for applications and data to help businesses, government and communities deliver amazing experiences.

Services not available everywhere. ©2022 Lumen Technologies. All Rights Reserved.
Press enter/return to begin your search