CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) has completed the extension of its Charlotte, N.C., fiber network to five area data centers, a move that immediately gives both Charlotte-based and national customers access to the cloud service offerings the telco delivers through its Savvis subsidiary.
For no additional cost, CenturyLink's newly built fiber ring will provide current and new customers with what it says is "customizable data networking solutions at standardized pricing" with access to five area data centers.
Customers will be able to access three main services on this fiber ring: IQ Internet Port Internet access; Networking Private Port, an IP-based VPN service that combines voice and data on one network; and Optical Wavelength Service Service, a managed, private, point-to-point optical service.
Taking these actions in North Carolina is all about appealing to more customers, as the market has become a major hub for cloud and data center services. Having its own fiber connected to these centers ensures that CenturyLink and Savvis can control the Quality of Service (QoS) and experience customers get when they opt to outsource various functions into the cloud.
This fiber expansion will also enable to more effectively compete with telco Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN). Thanks to its acquisition of Hosted Solutions last year, Windstream opened a third data center in Charlotte this April to target colocation and managed cloud services opportunities.
North Carolina is one of many markets where CenturyLink is expanding its data center and cloud capabilities. In June, Savvis announced that it had added 22,000 square feet of domestic and international data center space.
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- see the release
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