Lumen Technologies has introduced its flagship service, Internet-on-Demand, as part of its network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform. This service enables enterprise customers to easily connect to Lumen’s network through a digital portal or an application programme interface (API). Connections can be established at port-enabled business locations or public data centres.
Once connected, customers can access Internet-on-Demand at speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps. Each tier comes with an hourly rate: the 100 Mbps service starts at $0.46 per hour, the 1 Gbps tier at $1.08 per hour, and the 10 Gbps tier at $4.36 per hour.
Customers are only charged for the active service time they use. Additionally, Internet-on-Demand offers users real-time visibility into service performance and network usage.
The service is starting with limited availability, meaning “specific Lumen customers who can utilise the NaaS capabilities through an existing port are being targeted,” according to a Lumen spokesperson.
“Customers not part of this initial availability can reach out to their Lumen sales teams to learn more about when this functionality will be available to them,” the rep told Fierce.
“We have been preparing for this moment for a long time, building a world-class telecom network with state-of-the-art fibre, broad coverage and unsurpassed route diversity and scalability,” said Lumen CEO Kate Johnson in a statement.
Johnson earlier this year discussed the possibility of fleshing out Lumen’s enterprise services, including its edge and security offerings.
The company said it will eventually expand its NaaS portfolio to include security services such as distributed denial of service (DDoS), secure access service edge (SASE) and edge services.
“Lumen’s Network-as-a-Service offering takes the next step to deliver on our customers’ networking dreams: the ability to fire up any port, with any service, at any time. It’s your network, your way,” Johnson added.
To boost its NaaS reach, Lumen’s partnering with third-party data centre providers like Digital Realty and Equinix. Customers with both Lumen and partnered data centres can use the Internet-on-Demand service and increase or decrease bandwidth as needed.
“It’s all about enabling Network-as-a-Service for customers in those data centre locations, and changing the way they buy, use, manage compared to the past,” said the Lumen spokesperson.
In addition to breakthrough digital infrastructure, Lumen places significant emphasis on ways to reduce its carbon footprint, identifying and implementing energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. This includes purchasing renewable energy and making investments in facility efficiency improvements and new technologies to decrease absolute GHG emissions and intensity. Additionally, Lumen actively assists its customers in reducing their energy consumption with Lumen products and services such as Connector of IoT (Internet of Things) Solutions, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), Lumen Smart Home, online billing/autopay, set-top box energy conservation and small network equipment conservation.
