“CenturyLink is pleased that the FCC has begun to distribute the second round of its Connect America Fund phase I monies so that thousands of Americans in high-cost, rural parts of the country will be able to receive high-speed Internet service and all the economic and educational benefits that go with it,”  said CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Executive Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations Steve Davis. “We’re also investing millions of dollars of our own money to bring broadband to unserved homes and businesses.”

CenturyLink announced earlier this year that it will accept $54 million in CAF phase I, round 2 money from the Federal Communications Commission to bring broadband speeds of 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream to unserved locations in high-cost, rural areas. Today’s disbursement includes almost $40 million of that $54 million in phase I, round 2 CAF monies that will help CenturyLink bring broadband to more rural homes and businesses.

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairmen Fred Upton and Greg Walden today announced plans to update the nation’s telecommunications laws.

“CenturyLink applauds Chairmen Upton’s and Walden’s plans to update federal communications laws,” said CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Executive Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations Steve Davis. “How people communicate has changed dramatically over the two decades since the laws were last amended, as has the competitive marketplace. By taking action to modernize current law and eliminate unnecessary regulation, this reform will help foster innovation and investment across every telecommunications sector, encouraging the development of new, faster services at lower costs for consumers.”

Company to sell Uplogix local network management, configuration capabilities

CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) recently signed an agreement authorizing it to sell the Uplogix management solution, which operates like an onsite virtual network technician, providing innovative out-of-band and automated network management capabilities to federal government agencies. CenturyLink will sell the Uplogix solution via several contract vehicles, including under its General Services Administration (GSA) IT Schedule 70 contract.

The Uplogix local management platform is located with, and is directly connected to, managed networking and communications devices. By putting advanced capabilities within the centrally managed infrastructure, Uplogix provides secure out-of-band access, logs customer premises equipment errors, manages automated configuration changes and monitors system reboots and reconfigurations that are typically performed by onsite technicians.

“This sales agreement allows CenturyLink to offer the Uplogix management solution to our many federal government clients,” said Diana Gowen, CenturyLink Public Sector senior vice president and general manager. “As a leading provider of network and managed services to the government, CenturyLink can now use the Uplogix platform to enhance the value and differentiation of our managed service offerings in the federal marketplace.”

“Uplogix deploys the same product in enterprise networks in industries as diverse as oil and gas, finance and the military,” said Lisa Frankovitch, vice president of sales and business development for Uplogix. “Our value proposition for managed service providers is a strong one, and we’re excited to team with CenturyLink to bring these benefits to government customers.”

CenturyLink is initially using the Uplogix automated configuration capabilities to speed the installation and deployment of network infrastructure and managed devices at branch offices and data centers for a major federal government agency. As the network infrastructure provider, CenturyLink will use Uplogix for day-to-day management of customer premises equipment, and agency technicians will also use Uplogix to securely access and manage agency devices.

CenturyLink will be deploying Uplogix local management products at each site. Once the products have been installed, Uplogix will manage the gear with intensive monitoring and by performing defined, automated, routine run-book actions as needed. Uplogix will also provide secure out-of-band access to remote sites for network administrators.

“CenturyLink congratulates FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly on their Senate confirmations,” said CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Executive Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations Steve Davis. “We look forward to working with them as the communications industry completes its transition from traditional switched telephone services to IP services and high-speed Internet products.”

New broadband technology will deliver some of the fastest Internet speeds in the U.S.

CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) today announced that it will expand its fiber network pilot to Las Vegas, enabling Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). CenturyLink’s enhanced fiber network will deliver this ultra-fast broadband technology to residential and small business customers in select Las Vegas neighborhoods beginning this fall.

CenturyLink launched its first 1 Gbps fiber network in Omaha, Neb. in May 2013. The company expects to have the targeted homes and business in Omaha connected with its fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology by the end of October. The company will also use FTTP technology to deliver some of the fastest Internet speeds available in the United States to select homes and small businesses in Las Vegas. With this highly-advanced service, customers will be able to download a high-definition movie in seconds and stream it from multiple devices, gain instant access to cloud services and applications on demand, and download or upload large multimedia files – all at the same time.

“CenturyLink is pleased to announce that Las Vegas will be the next city to receive ultra-fast broadband speeds up to 1 Gbps,” said Matt Beal, CenturyLink chief technology officer. “We know our customers will embrace this new technology that will allow them to simultaneously use multiple devices in their homes and businesses without the burden of bandwidth constraints.”

CenturyLink’s 1 Gbps service is equivalent to 1,000 Mbps – an Internet speed that is 100 times faster than average broadband speeds – and will have a direct connection to the company’s recently upgraded 100 Gbps global network, designed to accommodate today’s bandwidth demands. This next generation fiber technology also enables CenturyLink to provide a symmetrical service, meaning customers can download and upload information at identical speeds of up to 1 Gbps.

“This is wonderful news for Las Vegas,” said U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. “Advances like these will ensure that Las Vegas continues to cement its reputation as a high-tech hub. I support these efforts by CenturyLink, and welcome more investments in our local economy. I look forward to even more access to high-speed technology in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada.”

“An aspect of my efforts as Governor has been fostering the growth of Nevada’s technology industry throughout the state,” said Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. “Las Vegas has always been one of America’s most connected cities and is quickly becoming a premier destination for launching tech-focused businesses. CenturyLink’s high-speed 1 Gbps fiber network pilot in Las Vegas adds another level of vital infrastructure to support our continued growth as a technology-driven city.”

“1 Gbps symmetrical speed provides a tremendous economic advantage for small businesses because it allows them to purchase their IT infrastructure through the cloud while substantially lowering operating costs,” said Jeff Oberschelp, CenturyLink vice president and general manager – Las Vegas. “This capability is key to growing a vibrant startup and tech community in Las Vegas.”

CenturyLink will make its 1 Gbps service available to residents in its first Las Vegas community this fall and intends to launch the service in additional communities into 2014. CenturyLink’s 1 Gbps service can be packaged with the company’s advanced Prism^TM TV service for $124.94 per month, plus applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges.

Small business customers in select locations will also be eligible for 1 Gbps service in early 2014. For information detailing the benefits of CenturyLink’s 1 Gbps fiber service in Las Vegas, visit www.centurylink.com/gigabit.

CenturyLink’s Colorado teams have been doing some amazing things to help the state and its residents recover from the recent floods. We recently shared an incredible story on CenturyLink’s Denver & Northern Colorado blog that highlighted the heroic acts of our CenturyLink aviation team during the Colorado floods, flying to isolated communities to help transport equipment and resources in the midst of a critical outage and playing a humanitarian role airlifting residents out of Estes Park in emergency rescue operations.

Over the course of 24 hours, two CenturyLink helicopters rescued roughly 16 people and 10 pets near the mountain town of Drake – a heroic effort that was recently profiled by the Loveland Reporter-Herald. Many people in Drake actually turned down the ride from our pilots to make room for residents that needed immediate medical assistance. Instead, these generous Drake residents gave the CenturyLink pilots various notes addressed to loved ones with a contact number. And true to their word, our aviation team made these calls and relayed the messages to the friends and family of the stranded Drake residents.

But the aviation team isn’t the only CenturyLink group that heeded the call and acted heroically. When flooding washed out nine miles of our fiber network in Estes Park, thus limiting vital communications services for these isolated residents, the options for repair and restoration were very limited. But thanks to the quick thinking and out-of-the-box creativity of CenturyLink’s network reliability operations center (NROC) staff and the local engineering, planning and construction team, we quickly identified and engaged a small public utility that, surprisingly, had a fiber route for lease into Estes Park. The team had found the proverbial needle in a haystack.

A CenturyLink team composed of staff from the NROC, network events management center, field operations, and the engineering, planning and construction groups worked through the night to reconfigure and test the new fiber connections. Thanks to their collaborative effort and hard work, communications service was restored to Estes Park and surrounding communities at approximately 4 a.m. that Sunday morning.

Again, the valor and grace under fire demonstrated by the entire CenturyLink Colorado team during this time of crisis is downright inspiring. We extend our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to everyone involved.

Company selected to provide cloud hosting and managed services  

CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) recently won a cloud hosting contract from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that could be worth nearly $1.1 million over the next three years.

The delivery order was awarded to Savvis Federal Systems Inc., a CenturyLink company. The company will provide managed, scalable public cloud hosting services for www.fcc.gov, www.myfcc.gov and the commission’s other public website domains. The contract is for infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and includes migration of the existing website infrastructure to a CenturyLink cloud data center.

Last year, CenturyLink won two task orders to provide private Wide Area Network (WAN) services and Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Services (MTIPS) to the FCC. The two task orders could be worth close to $10 million over the course of five years.

By supplying cloud hosting services over a carrier-class network, CenturyLink is able to provide the FCC with the security and reliability it needs to carry out its missions, which include maintaining a strong communications infrastructure that supports our nation’s economy, even during times of emergency.

“CenturyLink is eager to leverage its extensive cloud hosting product portfolio to support the FCC’s many missions, including the commission’s efforts to encourage new technologies to flourish,” said Diana Gowen, CenturyLink Public Sector senior vice president and general manager. “We look forward to adding our secure cloud hosting solutions to the WAN and MTIPS solutions we already provide to the FCC.”

CenturyLink is ranked No. 48 on Washington Technology’s 2013 Top 100 list of federal government IT contractors.

Disclaimer: This disclaimer is required by Delivery Order No. FCC13G0080. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has not reviewed or approved any statement in this document for accuracy or validity. The FCC and its employees do not endorse goods or services provided by this firm or any other firm, except as allowed by 5 C.F.R. § 2635.702(c)(1)-(2), which do not apply here.

CenturyLink executive to testify before U.S. House hearings on video marketplace

Outdated video retransmission rules inhibit competition in the pay TV market and hurt consumers, CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Regional Vice President of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Jim Campbell will tell two U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearings on the pay TV marketplace this week.

Over the past five years, CenturyLink has begun offering its Prism™ TV service to more than 1.5 million homes and has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in deploying high-speed broadband services to support its digital video product.

“While consumers have seen some slowdown in price increases from the incumbent cable provider in the markets where we’ve launched Prism™ TV, true competitive pricing unfortunately has not yet been realized,” Campbell will tell the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Tuesday and the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Wednesday.

“Federal and state policymakers recognize that broadband deployment and video marketplace competition are related and that broadband speeds and adoption increase significantly when it is offered along with video services, which benefits consumers,” he said in prepared testimony.

However, the current retransmission consent regime leaves consumers vulnerable to programming blackouts and offers no protection against escalating prices. “The cost of obtaining must-have broadcast programming continues to increase exponentially and consumers are feeling the impact through increased prices. Broadcasters are effectively using outdated rules to inhibit consumers from receiving the benefits of choice and a truly viable, competitive pay TV marketplace,” Campbell explained.

“CenturyLink favors a deregulatory approach under which the 1992 Cable Act would be amended to allow video providers the right to carry national programming from an adjacent or alternate market during a breakdown in retransmission consent negotiations,” Campbell said in his testimony.  “Congress has an opportunity, as part of the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010, to restore balance to the video retransmission consent marketplace to the ultimate benefit of consumers.” 

Company to bring broadband to 92,000 rural consumers 

CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) announced today that it will accept $54 million from the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund (CAF) this year to bring broadband to more than 92,000 rural homes and businesses in unserved high-cost areas.

When combined with its copayment, CenturyLink will invest more than $108 million over the next three years to bring broadband speeds of 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream to rural households and businesses in 33 of the 37 states where it offers residential broadband service. The company’s investment of its own capital will exceed the amount of CAF phase I, round 2 funding it accepts.

Earlier this year, close to 100 members of Congress from both parties urged the FCC to quickly distribute CAF phase I, round 2 money to bring broadband to more rural Americans.

“We commend the FCC for its collective commitment to bringing the many benefits of high-speed Internet service to unserved high-cost areas of rural America,” said Steve Davis, CenturyLink executive vice president for public policy and government relations. “CenturyLink is investing millions of dollars to deploy broadband to thousands of Americans who live in areas that would be cost prohibitive to serve without programs like the FCC’s Connect America Fund.”

CenturyLink was eligible to receive $90 million in CAF phase I, round 2 money, but the FCC’s market eligibility restrictions made further deployment uneconomic.

The $54 million is in addition to $35 million in CAF phase I, round 1 money that CenturyLink accepted in 2012 to deploy broadband service to 45,000 homes and businesses in unserved rural areas. Through the CAF I program, CenturyLink is deploying broadband to nearly 140,000 unserved rural consumers.

Updated Sept. 12, 2013
Company applauds U.S. Sens. Thune and Wyden, U.S. Reps. Goodlatte and Eshoo for introducing bills to permanently extend the Internet Tax Freedom Act 

CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) recently joined the Internet Tax Freedom Coalition because it supports the permanent extension of a law that bars federal, state and local governments from taxing consumers and small businesses on their Internet access.

The company applauds U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) for their leadership in introducing legislation, S.1431 and H.R.3086, to permanently extend the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which blocks taxes on Internet access, bandwidth and email.

The Internet Tax Freedom Act is a temporary tax moratorium that is scheduled to expire Nov. 1, 2014, after having been extended three times since it was signed into law in 1998. This important legislation stops federal, state and local governments from being able to tax consumers on the subscription fees they pay for Internet access, except for about a dozen states that already had Internet access taxes in 1998 and were grandfathered in.

While it does not prevent states from taxing sales made over the Internet, the legislation blocks multiple taxes on ecommerce, online sales from being taxed at a higher rate and discriminatory Internet-only taxes such as bandwidth or email taxes.

Right now, thousands of state and local jurisdictions tax consumers on their subscriptions to various communications services, such as telephone and cable bills. Without a permanent extension of this legislation, these taxes could easily be expanded to include Internet access.

CenturyLink knows that the Internet is an engine of economic growth that helps consumers find jobs, offers access to educational opportunities and provides expanded markets to local businesses. That’s why we believe consumers and small businesses should not be taxed on their Internet access.

High costs are one of the biggest barriers right now to widespread consumer adoption of broadband—something we’ve been working hard to increase, not decrease. We will keep you informed as we approach the moratorium’s expiration date in the fall of 2014.