Level 3 Communications, Inc. today announced new optical wavelength service capabilities. The enhancements are a direct response to growing customer demand for flexible, cost-effective, high-bandwidth optical networks for both enterprise and wholesale applications.
The new offerings provide network protection, additional bandwidth options and performance guarantees that enable customers to keep pace with rising end-user demand and bandwidth-hungry applications in a cost-effective manner. The portfolio expansion includes metro and intercity services and will be offered on Level 3's network across both North America and Europe.
"When Level 3 can offer customers shorter fiber routes via its comprehensive network footprint, that translates into less delay and increased application performance," said Brian Washburn, research director for Current Analysis. "For some organizations, low end-to-end latency is key."
The new service offerings include:
- Protected Wavelengths: Level 3 now provides automatic protection-switching to a dedicated diversely routed wavelength in the event of a network failure. The protection switch, fully automated and managed by Level 3, happens at switching speeds approaching SONET restoration times. The single interface to the customer requires no additional capital cost for customer optical ports, and the diverse restoration path is fixed and fully known to the customer. These features allow customers to achieve fast restoration with predictable performance in their network without adding significant cost and routing complexity.
- Gigabit Ethernet Increments: Level 3 now provides unprotected wavelength services in one Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. This lower-speed wavelength alternative allows customers to use more affordable, smaller increments of Ethernet bandwidth to build network connectivity in metro and intercity networks where a full 2.5 Gigabit per second (Gbps) or 10 Gbps link is not warranted.
- 40 Gigabit Waves: Level 3 also offers expanded service capability at the higher end of the bandwidth spectrum with 40 Gbps waves. The service allows customers needing very high bandwidth between two locations to establish that connectivity with a single link instead of purchasing and managing multiple 10 Gbps links and the additional supporting optical ports.
- Maximum Latency Guarantees: Level 3 now offers maximum latency guarantees on wavelength services for those customers that have very tight tolerances on delay-sensitive applications. The guarantee is provided before the customer commits to an order so that the risk of turning up a circuit only to find that the latency is too high is minimized. Level 3 also maintains the latency guarantee throughout the term of the circuit.
"With capital budgets dwindling in the face of increasing economic pressure, companies are looking for more efficient ways to keep pace with rising service demands being placed on their networks," said Sureel Choksi, chief marketing officer for Level 3. "These new wavelength service offerings provide granularity, reliability and scalability, enabling Level 3 customers more flexibility to manage their increasingly complex and growing network bandwidth demands."
These latest wavelength service enhancements address a variety of networking needs from high-performance data center connectivity and computing distribution to high-bandwidth carrier Internet protocol backbone construction. Level 3 is committed to provide innovative optical networking solutions using the latest technologies to support its customers.
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. is a leading international provider of fiber-based communications services. Enterprise, content, wholesale and government customers rely on Level 3 to deliver services with an industry-leading combination of scalability and value over an end-to-end fiber network. Level 3 offers a portfolio of metro and long-haul services, including transport, data, Internet, content delivery and voice. For more information, visit www.Level3.com.
Level 3 Communications, Level 3, the red 3D brackets and the Level 3 Communications logo are registered service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Level 3 services are provided by wholly owned subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc. Any other service, product or company names recited herein are trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statement
Some of the statements made in this press release are forward looking in nature. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. The most important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the current uncertainty in the global financial markets and the global economy; disruptions in the financial markets that could affect Level 3's ability to obtain additional financing; as well as the company's ability to: successfully integrate acquisitions; increase the volume of traffic on the network; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; develop effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel; and meet all of the terms and conditions of debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE: Level 3 Communications, Inc.
