Level 3 Communications was an American
multinational telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...
and
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privatel ...
company headquartered in
Broomfield,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
.
[ It ultimately became a part of ]CenturyLink
Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly CenturyLink) is an American
telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. The company is ...
(now Lumen Technologies
Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly CenturyLink) is an American
telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. The company is a ...
), where Level 3 President and CEO Jeff Storey was installed as Chief Operating Officer, becoming CEO of CenturyLink one year later in a prearranged succession plan.
Level 3 operated a Tier 1 network. The company provided core transport, IP, voice, video, and content delivery for medium-to-large Internet carriers in North America, Latin America, Europe, and selected cities in Asia. Level 3 was also the largest competitive local exchange carrier A competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), in the United States and Canada, is a telecommunications provider company (sometimes called a " carrier") competing with other, already established carriers, generally the incumbent local exchange carrie ...
(CLEC) and the 3rd largest provider of fiber-optic internet access (based on coverage) in the United States.
On October 31, 2016, CenturyLink announced an agreement to acquire Level 3 Communications in a cash and stock transaction. Level 3 became part of CenturyLink on November 1, 2017.
History
1985 to 2000
In 1985, Peter Kiewit Sons' Inc created a subsidiary named Kiewit Diversified Group to manage the corporation's business that was not related to construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...
. The division was spun off as a separate entity and changed its name to Level 3 Communications in 1998 to signify an increased focus on communication services. That same year saw it make an IPO on NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
. According to Level3's own history, it continued to build its telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a group of nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit switching, mes ...
after going public.[
]
2001 to 2010
According to Level3's own history, in 2003, the company acquired Genuity, and, between 2005 and 2007, it purchased several other companies including former rivals WilTel Communications, Broadwing Corporation
Broadwing may refer to:
* broad-winged hawk, a bird of prey.
* Broadwing, a bird of prey with broad wings such as eagles, falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distri ...
, Looking Glass Networks, Progress Telecom, and Telcove TelCove was a medium-sized telecommunications based in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. TelCove was originally known as Hyperion. It later changed its name to Adelphia Business Solutions, but it changed its name again after internal corruption forced the ...
(formerly Adelphia Business Solutions).[Company History: A Network Built to Support the Silicon Economics Cycle]
Level 3 Communications Official Site In 2004, Level 3 acquired ICG Communications' wholesale dial-up business for $35 million. Then, in 2006, Level 3 purchased the rest of ICG Communications for $163 million, taking over ICG's fiber network and nationwide Points of Presence
A point of presence (PoP) is an artificial demarcation point or network interface point between communicating entities. A common example is an ISP point of presence, the local access point that allows users to connect to the Internet with their ...
(PoPs). It then integrated these companies through 2010.
2010 to present
On April 11, 2011, Level 3 announced a tender offer had been made to acquire fellow Tier 1 provider Global Crossing
Global Crossing was a telecommunications company that provided computer networking services and operated a tier 1 carrier. It maintained a large backbone network and offered peering, virtual private networks, leased lines, audio and video conf ...
in an all-stock transaction, which was approved by shareholders on August 5, and completed on October 4, 2011. On October 20, 2011, Level 3 Communications reduced its total shares and transferred its stock listing from NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
to the larger New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
.
On May 14, 2012, Level 3 was contracted by European content provider Voxility to provide 250 Gbit/s or more to Voxility's three main data centers in North America and Europe. On May 7, 2012, Level 3 was contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Information Systems Agency
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) until 1991, is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency composed of military, federal civilians, and contractors. DISA pro ...
to provide fiber-cable operations and maintenance, and IP-based infrastructure under a ten-year, indefinite contract with a maximum value of approximately $411 million.
On June 16, 2014, Level 3 acquired TW Telecom, a business Internet connection provider, for about $5.7 billion.
In July 2015, Level 3 acquired Black Lotus, a provider of protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS).
On October 31, 2016, CenturyLink
Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly CenturyLink) is an American
telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. The company is ...
announced its intent to acquire Level 3 in a deal valued at around $34 billion.
On October 3, 2017, the deal was approved by the United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...
on condition of selling some of Level 3's telecom holdings in three states. The deal officially closed and Level 3 became part of CenturyLink on November 1, 2017.
On November 1, 2017, Level 3 Communications officially merged with CenturyLink. As part of the merger, work was required to divest of 24 individual fiber optic lines spanning 30 city pairs as required by the US Department of Justice. Additionally, Level 3 was required to divest of metro Ethernet markets in Boise
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ...
, Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
, and Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...
to satisfy antitrust requirements. The company complied with the divestiture of those assets.
Operations
Network
Level 3 Communications operated a large network Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...
, with infrastructure in 46 states in the continental United States, South America, Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
,[ and some cities in Asia. It uses transatlantic cables, including "Yellow" /AC-2 (on which it owned two of the four fiber pairs after Viatel's 2001 bankruptcy). Level 3 Communications has also purchased 300 Gbit/s of capacity on the Apollo (cable system).][Level 3 Communications Selects Apollo]
apollo-scs.com, 17th February 2008
At the time of acquisition by CenturyLink, it was owner of AS1 (following the acquisition of Genuity, from BBN Technologies
Raytheon BBN (originally Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.) is an American research and development company, based next to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
In 1966, the Franklin Institute awarded the firm the Frank P. Brown ...
), but it used AS3356 for operations. AS3356 consistently had one of the highest ranked connectivity degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathemati ...
s on the Internet. It also operated the former Global Crossing network (AS3549) following the company acquisition in 2011.
Level 3 Communications delivered Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
and Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
music and video content over the Internet. The company ran a content delivery network
A content delivery network, or content distribution network (CDN), is a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers. The goal is to provide high availability and performance by distributing the service spatially r ...
which it acquired from Savvis in 2006.
In 2006, Level 3 Communications announced with Internet2
Internet2 is a not-for-profit United States computer networking consortium led by members from the research and education communities, industry, and government. The Internet2 consortium administrative headquarters are located in Ann Arbor, M ...
, an academic network, that they would deploy a next generation nationwide research network.
Sales organization
Level 3 distributed and sold its services through a mix of six independent sales channels: large enterprise, wholesale, federal, content and media, midmarket, and indirect. All six sales channels reported to the president of sales Andrew Crouch. The top performing Level 3 indirect sales agencies in 2010 included Intelisys, Microcorp, CDW/AVANT Communications, PlanetOne, Advantage Communications Group, Telarus
Telarus is a U.S.-based sales agency that holds contracts with commercial network, cloud, and cybersecurity providers, and consolidates the sales volume of a network of independent sales agents known as 'Technology Advisors'. As a '' Technology So ...
, and Presidio.
Comcast dispute
On November 11, 2010 a dispute arose between Level 3 and Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
, when Level 3 announced that they were "selected to serve as a primary content delivery network
A content delivery network, or content distribution network (CDN), is a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers. The goal is to provide high availability and performance by distributing the service spatially r ...
(CDN) provider for Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
, Inc. to support the company's streaming functionality." Apparently, as a result of this distribution agreement, Comcast sought to renegotiate the peering
In computer networking, peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the "down-stream" users of each network. Peering is settlement-free, also known as "bill-a ...
agreement with Level 3 and sought a recurring fee for carrying the increased Level 3 internet traffic to and from Comcast broadband customers. Claims and counter-claims were made as the two companies sought to renegotiate the contract. In December 2010, the New America Foundation
New America, formerly the New America Foundation, is a think tank in the United States founded in 1999. It focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security studies, technology, asset building, health, gender, energy, educa ...
submitted information concerning the dispute to the FCC.
On July 16, 2013, Level 3 Communications and Comcast seemingly ended their three-year dispute by issuing a statement that "Level 3 and Comcast have resolved their prior interconnect dispute on mutually satisfactory terms. Details will not be released." On May 21, 2015, Level 3 and Comcast announced a new multi-year bilateral agreement to "enhance their existing network capacity while extending their mutual interconnection agreements, ensuring that both maintain ample capacity to exchange Internet traffic between their networks."
Other disputes
In July 2013, the NSA was accused of wiretapping large parts of data on the German Internet Exchange Point
Internet exchange points (IXes or IXPs) are common grounds of IP networking, allowing participant Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are generally located at places with preexisting ...
DE-CIX which was denied by Level 3, and a few months later, was accused of tapping connections between Google and Yahoo data centers.N.S.A. May Have Hit Internet Companies at a Weak Spot
/ref>
See also
* List of United States telephone companies
References
External links
{{Authority control
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies based in Broomfield, Colorado
Telecommunications companies of the United States
Content delivery networks
Tier 1 networks
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
Telecommunications companies established in 1985
1998 initial public offerings
2017 mergers and acquisitions
Lumen Technologies
American companies established in 1985