CenturyLink is bringing fiber-optic Internet speeds to much of eastern North Carolina and parts of the Triangle, targeting what the communications company calls the “Fiber Gap.”
Initial cities include Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Fayetteville, Greenville, Hillsborough, Rocky Mount, Wilson and many more.
CenturyLink thus becomes is the latest firm trying to cash in on the demand for “gigabit” ultra-fast net services, joining AT&T and Frontier Communications in the Triangle. Google Fiber also has announced plans for gigabit speed services in the Triangle.
The CenturyLink offering initially targets businesses and multi-tenant buildings rather than individual consumers. But a spokesperson told WRAL TechWire: “Look for our next news release later this week announcing the residential communities that are also qualifying for speeds up to one gig next!”
Details on pricing and specific service availability were not disclosed. But the list of communities where CenturyLink says it is offering service at speeds 100 times or more faster than standard cable Internet access is a lengthy one. The company also offers TV and entertainment services.
“We are so pleased to be able to offer ultra-fast fiber broadband speeds up 1 gigabit per second to our business customers throughout Central and Eastern North Carolina,” said Rondi Furgason, CenturyLink’s vice president of regional operations. “Many businesses rely on fast Internet speeds to maintain their competitive edge in the market, and CenturyLink is committed to helping them harness the bandwidth they need to be successful.”
CenturyLink’s coverage area includes territories in North Carolina once serviced by Sprint. Its regional headquarters is located in Franklin County just north of Wake Forest.
The company also is offering a variety of supporting technical services for businesses to help them manage higher-speed networks.
Where coverage is available
CenturyLink’s initial announcement included the following communities:
Clayton, Dunn, Elizabeth City, Erwin, Fayetteville, Fuquay-Varina, Greenville, Henderson, Hillsborough, Hope Mills, Jacksonville, Kill Devil Hills, Kinston, Mebane, Morehead City, Nags Head, New Bern, Oxford, Pittsboro, Pope Army Airfield, Princeville, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Roxboro, Siler City, Smithfield, Southern Pines, Spring Lake, Tarboro, Wade, Wake Forest, Washington, Whiteville, Williamston, Wilson and Winterville.
(Where is coverage available? Visit: http://www.centurylinkquote.com/availability)
In recent years, CenturyLink has upgraded its network to support faster Internet speeds. The company, and Sprint preceding it, was under pressure to provide faster Internet services in rural areas of the state. AT&T and Frontier have faced similar pressure.
Wilson, for example, built its own fiber service (Greenlight) where it competes against Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink.
In order to foster better Internet service, the state of North Carolina through the eNC Authority, offered incentives and grants to help subsidize network expansion.
MCNC, which is based in RTP, also built its own statewide fiber network (the North Carolina Research and Education Network) to service schools, universities, state and municipal agencies and other clients such as healthcare providers.
CenturyLink, like AT&T, is also among the communications companies and trade groups that are seeking to overturn Federal Communications Commission rules on enforcing “net neutrality” and regulating Internet service providers. (On Monday, AT&T’s chair and CEO Randall Stephenson predicted that the FCC rules would be overturned.)
CenturyLink now in the game
The announcement Monday signifies CenturyLink’s upgrades to its network that blankets most of the state’s eastern third.
“To deploy affordable 1 Gbps fiber service to business locations in new communities, CenturyLink is leveraging existing fiber infrastructure – the company’s national, advanced, fiber optic network backbone – and extending fiber from the network backbone to nearby locations,” Simone Alley, CenturyLink’s media manager for North Carolina and Virginia, told WRAL TechWire.
Initially, availability is limited to “multi-tenant unit office buildings or other types of buildings in office, retail (mini-malls or stand-alone pads) or industrial developments.”
Alley said CenturyLink is now in a position to bring the so-called information superhighway to more areas.
“While fiber connectivity is now fairly pervasive in the ‘tall and shiny’ office buildings and high rises in major metropolitan areas, these smaller business locations are most likely to fall in the ‘fiber gap,'” Alley explained.
“Because of the way that CenturyLink’s network evolved, our fiber infrastructure reaches more smaller communities and more rural areas compared to most other network providers. In the towns where service is expanding, we determined the footprint of eligible business locations in response to customer interest in gigabit fiber and to maximize deployment in areas where business location density makes our network investments economically viable.”
While not disclosing specific pricing, Alley said some plans would be based on “a low monthly price per employee user.”
Alley also would not say how much CenturyLink had invested in its network upgrade and expansion.
