The Digital Frontier: The Lumen Journey to Connect the World As One

In the realm of connection, humanity has found its common ground. The internet, the great connector, has been at the heart of this revolution, and at the forefront stands Lumen—operating the #1 peered global network. From the dawn of the internet, Lumen has been a binding force, bringing the world together as one.

For decades, Lumen has been instrumental in driving societal and economic progress by connecting people and organizations. But the landscape of the digital economy is one of volatility, uncertainty and complexity. The advent of AI, neural networks, robotics and more demands networking solutions that are not just robust but also adaptive to the rapidly changing business environment.

While customers faced these challenges head-on, telecom companies remained silent. New companies stepped in, innovating on top of the network infrastructure that Lumen pioneered. At the same time, communication moved from physical phones to cloud-based apps, disrupting traditional telecom models. Security became paramount, yet its commercialization in telco remained untapped.

As the digital economy continues to evolve, it has become clear that the network is the linchpin of digital transformation. Everything relies on the network, yet many networks are not ready for the future. Companies are getting ready to move forward with technologies like AI. But a telling survey reveals that approximately 86% of CIOs don’t believe their network is ready for AI. In another study, 43% say they need rapid and easy circuit provisioning with a cloud experience to adapt to the demands of next-gen applications and large datasets.⁴ These insights paint a vivid picture of what is required to steer the course of modern enterprises looking to unlock their digital potential.

Lumen is ready to help companies navigate this new frontier. With a new portfolio tailored to meet our customers’ business needs, Lumen is positioned not just to participate but to drive in this space. The mission is clear: Ignite business growth by connecting people, data and applications—quickly, securely and effortlessly.

Lumen owns the network. Lumen is the network. Lumen innovates the network.

Our approach to ownership and innovation disrupts the competition, allowing us to build from within rather than merely adding on. With exceptional speed, capacity and economics, the Lumen Network is a force to be reckoned with.

The focus now is on three key areas where Lumen is uniquely positioned to win: connectivity, security and communications. Each area is poised for disruption, with agility and on-demand capabilities in connectivity, proactive threat blocking in security and an impending overhaul in communications.

A revolutionary new way to connect

Enter Lumen Digital—a suite of capabilities woven directly into the network’s fabric that includes virtual private fabrics, high-capacity cloud connectivity, digitized networks and a unique native network-as-a-service (NaaS) offering.

• Lumen^® Private Connectivity Fabric^SM represents the zenith of Lumen solutions, streamlining infrastructure with custom network architectures that allow for higher-speed and more secure connectivity. This network provides dedicated access to existing fiber on the Lumen Network, the installation of new fiber on existing and new routes, and access to Lumen digital services that securely connect companies’ data centers to protect data and support AI-intensive workloads.
• Lumen^® NaaS marks the beginning of a new era. With agile bandwidth, low latency, edge computing, scale, redundancy and a self-service reconfigurable fabric, Lumen is setting a new standard.
• Lumen Defender^SM doubles down on security, leveraging network data to proactively block threats at the network level. With two hundred billion NetFlow sessions and two million threats blocked daily, the internet is indeed safer.

Our customers are taking notice. Avaya’s new communications platform and Micro Center’s defense against DDoS attacks helped reduce delays in service from weeks to minutes—just two stories attesting to our transformative impact.

The time for Lumen is now

A generational opportunity to disrupt the telecom industry is at hand. With a network, software and expertise unlike others, Lumen is rewriting history on what telecom delivers. The courage to disrupt, fueled by a world-class culture, has earned Lumen multiple press mentions in the last six months alone.

Lumen Digital isn’t just getting started; it’s already well along the path to redefining the telecom experience of connecting people, data and applications—and doing it quickly, securely and effortlessly. That’s because Lumen Digital is not just a solution; it is a gateway to ambitious goals and a bold stride into the digital era. Define the future with Lumen. Explore the transformative potential of Lumen Digital.

To find out more about how Lumen solutions can be your trusted partner for AI, contact us today.

¹Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), AS Rank, April 2024.
²IDC, Enterprise Horizons 2024, June 2024.
³Fierce Network, Businesses have high hopes for AI. Are their networks ready?, June 13, 2024.
⁴IDC, InfoBrief: Empowering Digital Transformation, July 2024.

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