CenturyLink today unveiled a rebranding that will see most of the company’s activities, particularly outside of consumer and small business broadband, operate as Lumen Technologies -- Lumen, for short. The new name signals a refocusing of efforts on supplying a combination of platforms and other resources that can support the applications expected as business move into the Industry 4.0 era.
“Our new identity demonstrates a new vision for enterprises in the digital era and demonstrates how far we have come from our beginnings,” the company said via an FAQ explaining the move. Lumen, so named as a nod to the fiber network that will provide the foundation for its operations, will emphasize four capabilities through which the company asserts it has a competitive edge:
- Adaptive networking for hybrid network requirements
- Edge cloud and IT agility through which it can deliver low-latency, high-performance data access, moving data and workloads closer to where customers need them
- Connected security
- Communications and collaboration services.
"Our people are dedicated to furthering human progress through technology. Lumen is all about enabling the amazing potential of our customers, by utilizing our technology platform, our people, and our relationships with customers and partners," said Lumen President and CEO Jeff Storey.
"All of our futures will be driven by smart things, applications and digital services that use data for transformational purposes. To serve this colossal need and further human progress through technology, we have launched Lumen and are delivering our technology through the Lumen Platform, a platform for amazing things," added Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Shaun Andrews.
Lumen says it will continue to serve residential and some small business broadband customers under the CenturyLink brand. Concurrent with the corporate name change, the company also rebranded CenturyLink Fiber to Quantum Fiber. The FAQ describes Quantum Fiber as “a subscription-based, prepaid, online platform for delivering premier fiber-based connectivity to residents and small businesses.” Fiber-based internet currently is the only service available under the new brand.
Despite the name change, financial strategy and reporting will remain unaffected, Lumen asserts – although the ticker symbol will change from CTL to LUMN on September 18, 2020.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.