CenturyLink took the wraps off of a symmetrical, 1 gigabit-per-second tier for multi-tenant unit (MTU) office buildings in the Salt Lake City area.
While CenturyLink launched a 1gig service for business and residential customers in Las Vegas last year, as well as a pilot in Omaha, Neb., the Salt Lake City deployment marked the first time it has gone directly to MTUs with its 1 gigabit service. Comcast also offers business services in Salt Lake City.
In addition to Salt Lake City, the fiber-based service will be available throughout Sandy, Midvale, Draper, South Jordan, West Jordan, Cottonwood Heights and other area municipalities for a total of more than 2,5000 businesses throughout. CenturyLink’ said its 1 Gbps service would have a direct connection to the company’s recently upgraded 100 Gbps global network.
CenturyLink is also offering area business customers its Managed Office platform, which is comprised of a business-grade data network and hosted VoIP phone service with cloud-based applications for email, unified communications, security and data storage.
When asked about pricing for the 1-gig speeds, a CenturyLink spokeswoman said pricing depended on the type of service each customer wanted.
“Small and midsized companies are important to CenturyLink, and we are focused on innovations that can help these customers reach their goals and simplify their lives using advanced technology. We’re excited to bring a 1 gigabit per second 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’s gigabit fiber pilot in Omaha was based on GPON equipment from Calix . The trial also used Ericsson’s professional services expertise and ecosystem to bring the scale required to connect homes and businesses in Omaha. CenturyLink didn’t say what vendors were being used in Salt Lake City.
