Lumen Technologies has launched 400G IP transit ports on its tier 1 Internet backbone in the U.S. and Europe, making it one of relatively few internet backbone operators to have done so, according to the company.
Citing data from the Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), Lumen said its internet backbone network is the number one peered network in the world. Traffic on the network grew 38% year-over-year (YoY) in 2021 and 16% YoY last year.
“Businesses that need IP transit are looking for efficient global internet routes connecting where data is and where it needs to go,” Lumen Chief Technology Officer Andrew Dugan said in a press release. “Lumen’s highly peered AS3356 network can connect internet traffic sources and destinations with minimal network hops. Combining Lumen’s 400G transit ports with our 400G wavelengths well positions us in the IP transit market for delivering ultra-high bandwidth connections.”
Lumen’s high-speed IP (HSIP) service with 400G ports creates efficiencies for content providers, hyperscalers, ISPs, wholesalers and gaming companies to support their traffic, the company says.
The offering is currently in available in eight markets and 12 more will be added in 2023, with “continued expansions in 2024,” Lumen said.
Lumen has focused heavily on the business and wholesale market since its acquisition of Level3 in 2017, back when Lumen was known as CenturyLink. It rebranded as Lumen (for enterprises and wholesale) in 2021, while retaining the CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber names for small business and residential customers.
In January, Lumen said that it had deployed 400G services connecting 70 markets in the U.S. The intercity network was providing customers with more than 50 TB of 400 wavelength capacity, the company said.
Lumen also has had success selling to the government. In February it announced that it had won a $223 million contract from the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). The services will support the U.S. Department of Defense.
