Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project

Centurylink

NB: This is a stub page which aggregates note and links topics. It is under development.

Timeline

• 2016 Centurylink / Level 3 Merger
• 2016 Centurylink sells off Savvis Data Centers
• 2015 Congestion in interconnection
• 2011 Centurytel acquires Savvis and Qwest
• 2009 Centurytel acquires Embarq
• 2001:  CenturyTel acquires CSW Net, Ink in Arkansas [CenturyLink Timeline]
• 1997:  Century Telephone acquires Pacific Telecom (PTI) [CenturyLink Timeline]
• 1992:  Century Telephone acquires Central Telephone Company of Ohio. [CenturyLink Timeline]
• 1989:  Century Telephone acquires Universal Telephone. [CenturyLink Timeline]
• 1971:  Central Telephone and Electronics renamed Century Telephone Enterprises (will become CenturyLink) [CenturyLink Timeline]
• 1968: Oak Ridge Telephone Company incorporated as Central Telephone and Electronics.  10,000 access lines.  Will become Century Link. [CenturyLink Timeline]
  • "William Clarke and Marie Williams purchased the Oak Ridge Telephone Company for $500 from F.E. Hogan, Sr. There were 75 paid subscribers. The switchboard was relocated to the Williams’ front parlor so the family could man the board 24-hours a day. The exception was between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sundays, when the office closed for church and dinner. Marie wrote out the bills by hand, and eight-year-old son Clarke McRae Williams delivered them on his bicycle." This company will become Century Link.  [CenturyTel Timeline]

Backbone

• Network Statistics
• Internet Health Report (Qwest, Savvis)
• Qwest Peering Policy
• Qwest Network Disclosures
• IPv6 Information
• CDN
• Savvis and Qwest were considered Tier 1 backbone

Interconnection

• Centurylink / Content Interconnection
• Centurylink is one of the BIAS providers who charges Paid Peering to content providers to access eyeballs
  • Charter / TWC Merger Order 2016, para. 99
  • Amie Elcan, Centurylink, 95th Percentile Billing, NANOG 53, Slide 19 (Oct. 10, 2011), ("Content delivery providers must accommodate bandwidth intensive video with a distinct time of day pattern")
  • In the matter of Protecting and Promoting the Open Interet, GN Docket 14-28, Comments of Centurylink, p. 6 July 17, 2014 ("A two-sided market approach ensures that the costs of content and applications causing greater bandwidth consumption are ultimately passed on to the subscribers who use those services, ensures that adequate pricing signals are communicated to edge providers and, overall, produces the optimal economic outcome." (citing sources advocating for permitting access paid peering))

Mergers

• Centurylink Level3 2016
• 2011 acquired Savvis, Qwest, changed name from CenturyTel to Century Link
  • FCC Public Notice July 12, 2011 (SAVVIS)
  • MO&O (Mar. 18, 2011) (Qwest)
  • CITATION: Application Filed by Qwest Communications International Inc. and CenturyTel, Inc.. d/b/a CenturyLink for Consent to Transfer Control, Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 11-47, WC Dkt. 10-110, 26 FCC Rcd. 4194 (2011)
  • In re Application Filed by Qwest Communications International Inc. and CenturyTel, Inc.. d/b/a CenturyLink for Consent to Transfer Control, WC Docket No. 10-110, Memorandum Opinion and Order (Mar. 18, 2011) (conditionally approving merger with no reference to Internet backbones; Qwest had been considered a Tier 1 backbone).
  • Public Notice: Notice of Non-Streamlined Domestic Section 214 Application Granted, WC Docket 11-97 (July 12, 2011) (approving acquisition of SAVVIS by CenturyTel; SAVVIS had been considered a Tier 1 backbone).
  • CITATION: Notice of Non-Streamlined Domestic Section 214 Application Granted, Public Notice, WC Dkt. 11-97, 26 FCC Rcd. 9653 (2011)
• 2009 acquired Embarq. Embarq Corporation and CenturyTel, Inc., WC Docket No. 08-238, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 24 FCC Rcd 8741 (2009).
  • APPLICATIONS FILED FOR THE TRANSFER OF CONTROL OF EMBARQ CORPORATION TO CENTURYTEL, INC.   Dismissed the Joint Petition on procedural grounds and, in the alternative, denied the Joint Petition on the merits. (Dkt No.  08-238 ). Action by:  Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau. Adopted:  02/21/2012 by Order on Reconsideration. (DA No. 12-252).  WCB TXT 
    

Outages

"In June 2010, CenturyLink Internet experienced failures that affected approximately 30,000 customers on the Kitsap Peninsula (near Seattle, Washington), and in a separate outage, affected approximately 100,000 customers across parts of Texas. The Kitsap Peninsula outage lasted an hour according to company sources, but some customers said it lasted four times as long. The Texas outage lasted over eight hours. During the outages, consumers, businesses and government were unable to place 9-1-1 or other calls over VoIP "

Regulatory Proceedings

•  CENTURYLINK'S PETITION FOR FORBEARANCE PURSUANT TO 47 U.S.C. ? 160(C) FROM DOMINANT CARRIER AND CERTAIN COMPUTER INQUIRY REQUIREMENTS ON ENTERPRISE BROADBAND SERVICES.   Requested additional information from CenturyLink, Inc. necessary to review its Petition for Forbearance and allow the Commission to make a decision in accordance with the statute. (Dkt No.  14-9 ). Action by:  Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau by LETTER. (DA No. 14-1324).  WCB  https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-14-1324A1.docx
  https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-14-1324A1.pdf
• Released: 03/06/2012. PLEADING CYCLE ESTABLISHED FOR COMMENTS ON CENTURYLINK PETITION FOR FORBEARANCE FROM DOMINANT CARRIER AND CERTAIN COMPUTER INQUIRY REQUIREMENTS ON ENTERPRISE BROADBAND SERVICES. (DA No. 12-346). (Dkt No 12-60 ) Oppositions Due: 04/05/2012. Comments Due: 04/05/2012. Reply Comments Due: 04/20/2012. WCB . TXT
• PETITION OF CENTURYLINK FOR FORBEARANCE PURSUANT TO 47 U.S.C. SECTION 160(C) FROM DOMINANT CARRIER AND CERTAIN COMPUTER INQUIRY REQUIREMENTS ON ENTERPRISE BROADBAND SERVICES.   Granted a 15-day extension of the deadline to comment and a 15-day extension of the deadline to file reply comments addressing CenturyLink's forbearance petition. (Dkt No.  12-60 ). Action by:  Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau. Comments Due:  04/20/2012. Reply Comments Due:  05/07/2012. Adopted:  03/22/2012 by ORDER. (DA No. 12-451).  WCB TXT 
• PETITION OF CENTURYLINK FOR FORBEARANCE PURSUANT TO 47 U.S.C. SECTION 160(C) FROM  DOMINANT CARRIER AND CERTAIN COMPUTER  INQUIRY REQUIREMENTS ON ENTERPRISE  BROADBAND SERVICES.   Issued a Protective Order in this proceeding. (Dkt No.  12-60). Action by:  Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau. Adopted:  03/22/2012 by Protective Order. (DA No. 12-454).  WCB TXT 
  

Data Caps

• "CenturyLink imposed tier-based usage caps. Verizon, which relies on fiber-to-the-home architecture, does not impose bandwidth caps or usage-based-pricing" FCC Annual Video Competition Report 2013

Data Centers

• Centurylink Sells its Colo Business to Fund Level 3 Deal, Data Center Knowledge Nov. 4, 2016 ("What these new venture partners are getting for their $2.15 billion plus stock is Savvis, which CenturyLink acquired in 2011 in a $2.5 billion cash + stock deal.  (It’s been reported that CenturyLink was seeking $2.5 billion for today’s deal, but settled for $2.15 billion.)  Collectively, Savvis boasts more than 2.6 million feet of floor space worldwide, serving 3,500 customers connected by about 401,000 miles of cable.  Its expansions over the past few years in Canada earned praise from IDC MarketScape just last month.")
• Why Centurlink Doesnt Want to Own Data Centers, Data Center Knowledge Nov. 5, 2015 ("CenturyLink’s colocation business, the business whose seeds were sown primarily four years ago with the $2.5 billion acquisition of Savvis, is not doing well. Colo revenue is not growing, and the telecommunications giant is looking for ways to avoid investing more capital in the segment.")

Residential Access Service

• CenturyLink’s G.fast deployment is a credible response to cable’s gigabit strategy, FierceTelecom Sept 15, 2016 ("CenturyLink is igniting G.fast in the U.S., announcing this week that it equipped 44 multi-dwelling units (MDUs) in Platteville, Wisconsin, with 500 Mbps service. ")
• CenturyLink likely to refocus consumer-business mix, strategy following Level 3 acquisition, FierceTelecom Dec. 6, 2016 ("Upon completing the acquisition, nearly 75% of CenturyLink’s revenue will be business services, with the remaining 25% coming from consumers.")
• Level 3 CFO: Acquisition By CenturyLink Will Grow SMB Customer Base, Channel Partners Dec. 1, 2016 ("Seventy-six percent of the combined company’s revenue will be business revenue, while the consumer business will be 24 percent, he said.")
• CenturyLink Rolls Out 1Gbps FTTP Services in Midwest US, Zacks Dec. 2, 2016 ("The telco is presently focused on delivering fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) 1 Gbps (gigabit per second) services in three states – Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota – in the Midwestern region of the U.S. This fiber facility will equip 484 multitenant unit (MTU) office buildings and reach out to 4,318 small to large businesses in these states")

Video

• CenturyLink says OTT could replace IPTV platform over time, drive broadband growth, FierceTelecom Dec. 5, 2016 ("“We’ll have a huge footprint what we can provide this product,” Ewing said. “It’s over the top with a Roku device and we’ll have local channels so we think for at least some time that will be a differentiator of our product.”")
• CenturyLink Strong on Prism TV Services and Level 3 Deal, Zacks, Dec. 6, 2016

Cybersecurity

DHS Enhanced Cybersecurity Services (ECS)

Centurylink is a Communications Service Provider accredited to provide ECS. [DHS ECS]

News

• CenturyLink Wins FCC MTIPS Task Order By CenturyLink Thursday, February 09, 2017 ("CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) recently won a task order to provide Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Services (MTIPS) to the Federal Communications Commission’s IT center in Gettysburg, Pa. This IT facility serves as the primary intake center for all incoming FCC inquiries and complaints.")
• MEF Ethernet Interconnection Points Project Expands with Addition of Centurylink, Frontier, and Telepacific, Windstream Carrier Solutions (Oct. 22, 2015)