CenturyLink's 1 Gbps fiber now available to nearly 490,000 SMB locations in 17 states, delivering enterprise-class IP networking, VoIP and cloud capabilities

Company enters Iowa, Idaho, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin as part of its gigabit broadband availability expansion to more than 115,000 U.S. business locations

MONROE, La., May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) today announced the availability of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) fiber speeds to more than 115,000 additional U.S. business locations and in five additional states, a network expansion that empowers nearly 490,000 small and midsized business (SMB) locations in 17 states with the availability of enterprise-class IT solutions, including IP networking, VoIP and cloud capabilities, trusted by CenturyLink's Fortune 500 customers.

CenturyLink is launching symmetrical gigabit fiber service to SMB customers in parts of Iowa, Idaho, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin and expanding its availability in nine of the 12 states where CenturyLink initially deployed gigabit fiber for business customers in 16 cities in August 2014.

The nine states are: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. CenturyLink also provides 1 Gbps speeds in parts of Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota.

"CenturyLink's commitment to providing powerful, enterprise-grade solutions to small and midsized businesses differentiates us from providers that repackage consumer capabilities for business customers," said Shirish Lal, CenturyLink's chief marketing officer. "As a top thee global data center provider with world-class managed hosting capabilities and a network of 250,000 U.S. fiber route miles, CenturyLink is able to uniquely combine symmetrical gigabit speeds with our portfolio of IT solutions to help businesses simplify and enhance their IT environments."

High-speed broadband connectivity makes it easier for businesses to work in the cloud, upload and download large multimedia files, stream video content and back-up data in real time. With symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 1 Gbps, fiber service from CenturyLink outperforms the slower upload speeds available through basic business broadband providers, including many cable companies. 

Fiber is the future-proof access technology enabling higher bandwidth network services, according to research firm Vertical Systems Group.

"Fiber-based network services that range up to a gigabit are scarcely available to small and medium size businesses," said Rosemary Cochran, principal at Vertical Systems Group. "The ongoing expansion of CenturyLink's fiber footprint is narrowing the gap for this sizable market."

CenturyLink uses Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology to provide speeds of up to 1 Gbps to businesses located near the company's fiber network backbone or in fiber-fed multi-tenant unit office buildings.

"Our fiber network forms a powerful foundation for the end-to-end IT solutions CenturyLink created for small and midsized business customers that don't have the in-house expertise or time to manage technology upgrades. Businesses rely on CenturyLink as their single source for managed voice, data, security, infrastructure and cloud-based business applications," said Lal. "Managed services from CenturyLink, such as the Managed Office solution, unburden our customers' internal IT staff to focus on strategic activities instead of tactical support while CenturyLink provides enterprise-class IT capabilities for a low monthly fee."

Business customers can visit www.centurylink.com/fiberplus to learn more about CenturyLink's fiber-based services, including speeds up to 1 Gbps, and to determine if service is available in their location.    

In addition to business 1 Gbps service, CenturyLink also offers 1 Gbps speeds to residential customers in 11 cities. For more information on residential gigabit service and to find out where these speeds are available, customers can go to www.centurylink.com/gigabit.

About CenturyLink

CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a global communications, hosting, cloud and IT services company enabling millions of customers to transform their businesses and their lives through innovative technology solutions. CenturyLink offers network and data systems management, Big Data analytics and IT consulting, and operates more than 55 data centers in North America, Europe and Asia. The company provides broadband, voice, video, data and managed services over a robust 250,000-route-mile U.S. fiber network and a 300,000-route-mile international transport network. Visit CenturyLink for more information.

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SOURCE CenturyLink, Inc.

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