CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) says it is now offering Internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps for more than 2500 businesses located in multi-tenant unit office buildings throughout Salt Lake City, Sandy, Midvale, Draper, South Jordan, West Jordan, Cottonwood Heights, and other area municipalities in Utah.
Business customers located in buildings connected to CenturyLink's fiber-optic network will be able to work faster without bandwidth constraints, the company says. Businesses can benefit from instant access to cloud services and applications on demand and, with CenturyLink's symmetrical service, can simultaneously download or upload large multimedia files at identical speeds of up to 1 Gbps.
This service will outperform the slower upload speeds available through basic business broadband providers, including cable providers, the service provider asserts. CenturyLink asserts its 1-Gbps service is among the fastest in the U.S. and will have a direct connection to the company's recently upgraded 100 Gbps global network (see “CenturyLink deploys 100 Gbps via multiple vendors”).
"The availability, quality, and competitiveness of broadband services are critical pieces of infrastructure for attracting new businesses to Salt Lake City," said Jeff Edwards, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. "Businesses need more bandwidth and faster connections to harness cloud applications that are becoming workplace necessities. Access to fast Internet speeds will help Salt Lake City provide new job opportunities and attract new capital investment. We commend CenturyLink on this significant investment in the community."
Business customers in the Salt Lake City area may also choose to take advantage of Managed Office, CenturyLink's fully managed IT services and cloud bundle, which combines a business-grade data network and hosted voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone service with cloud-based applications for email, unified communications, security, and data storage, all fully managed by CenturyLink. Managed Office includes equipment and hardware such as IP phones, routers, switches, and Wi-Fi access points for a monthly price-per-employee workstation that allows businesses to predict the cost of managing their entire communications network.
"We're excited to bring a 1-Gbps broadband solution to multi-tenant unit businesses in Salt Lake City," said Larry Walters, CenturyLink vice president and general manager – Salt Lake City. "A faster Internet connection is often the gateway for smaller companies to adopt cloud computing and managed services. With Managed Office, forward-thinking businesses can turn over their information technology operations to the management of a trusted partner so they can focus on excellence within their core competencies."
CenturyLink also has been running a 1-Gbps broadband trial in Omaha, NE, and Las Vegas, NV (see "CenturyLink uses Calix systems in Omaha gigabit FTTH pilot" and "CenturyLink adds Las Vegas to 1 Gbps FTTP pilot").
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.