Ethernet Services from CenturyLink Is On The Rise

Not long ago, VSG released their 2011 Mid-Year US Business Ethernet Leader board rankings, where – thanks mostly to its recent merger with Qwest Communications – it placed CenturyLink in the prestigious fourth spot. That's not a bad position to be in considering it was the first time the provider has ever placed on the top 10 list.

While CenturyLink was previously offering both wholesale Ethernet services for wireless operators and standard Ethernet services for local businesses, the company's presence was primarily restricted to local markets. In an interview with Fierce Telecom, Vertical Systems Group's Principal and co-founder, Rosemary Cochran stated that, CenturyLink has dipped into "Ethernet and had Metro service infrastructure, but weren’t as proactive outside of its regional local markets.” Cochran went on to say that with the addition of Savvis and the acquired Qwest assets, CenturyLink is now positioned with a broad national footprint and also has an international scope that includes connectivity to Asia Pac and Europe.

That being said, while CenturyLink has the potential to play with the big dogs (like Verizon, and AT&T) on the international front, the ILEC will initially focus on the national market here in the US.

Through its acquisition with Qwest, CenturyLink automatically secured a developing base of Internet Protocol-based Ethernet over fiber offerings as well as a fresh blend of conventional TDM-based Ethernet offerings, such as Ethernet over Copper, Ethernet over SONET, Ethernet over T1 and Ethernet over TDM. But perhaps the most valuable entity that CenturyLink has received after merging with Qwest is Qwest's well established collection of medium and large-sized enterprise clients, including government agencies, on top of its Ethernet client base and revenue.

Now CenturyLink can cross-sell both Savvis services and Qwest Ethernet services to existing clients. Moreover, CenturyLink will also be able to add on managed security services and budding cloud-based services from both Savvis and Qwest.

Nevertheless, CenturyLink's 4th place US retail Ethernet service place will be challenged by many factors, such as cable operators and continuing CLEC and ILEC market consolidation. Cochran points out that, on the US side, the distance between 4th place and 9th place is only 3%, and added that the "deals are going to change the competitive Ethernet services landscape in the U.S. because of where those companies sit.”

If you're interested in finding the ideal Ethernet solution for your business, give one of our professional account managers a call today!