Glass fibers transporting voice, data and Internet traffic from “near-net” businesses to CenturyLink’s backbone communications network carry at least one high-demand consumer benefit: SPEED.
“Near-net” refers to a specific distance from CenturyLink facilities and where the cost of direct Fiber-To-The-Premises (FTTP) for a customer location may be “absorbed” by the telecommunications company. That cost absorption is offered to businesses such as multi-tenant office buildings, mini-malls, large retail development and industrial locations in a win-win proposition.
The objective for CenturyLink is to optimally leverage its existing fiber optic infrastructure while providing one-gigabit-per-second connection to specific high density businesses. Signals of light from fiber optics maintain the fast and consistent connections demanded by power users of cellphones, tablets, laptops and other Internet-ready devices. Fiber optic networks move significantly more data at higher speeds and across greater distances than other technology options.
That is the message from Cherla Ramsey, CenturyLink’s market development manager for Northern Arizona, and Eric Noble, lead commercial accounts executive, who educate business prospects about the technology and its competitive advantages. One of those advantages is the backbone itself, which encompasses 58 global data centers, domestic and international fiber optics transmission, and a 2,000-person global development and operations team.
Noble’s job is working with new business customers to solve their technology challenges.
Internet access, for example, had become a bigger issue for two very different local businesses in the past several months. Turning to fiber optic connectivity are Ponderosa Hotel Management Services, managers of five hotels in Prescott and Flagstaff, and BloomTree Realty, a local brokerage that recently moved into the former National Bank building at the corner of Gurley and Cortez.
Both businesses sought answers to slow or sporadic Internet and related communications concerns for their customers and end users. The real estate firm wanted to boost support to its sales agents and their respective buyers and sellers. The hotels’ management team sought improved access for front desk personnel, operations staff, conference and seminar attendees, lobby and lounge visitors and overnight guests.
Importance to Guests
The change-over also accommodates a Marriott Hotels’ corporate requirement for high-speed Internet services at its properties, plus acknowledgement that Internet service is as important to guests as breakfast and a swimming pool, according to Margo Christensen, vice president of marketing and communications for Ponderosa Hotel Management Services.
The opportunity for the fiaber optics installation arose as Christensen was partnering with CenturyLink and Quad Cities Business News for a six-session business workshop launching July 15 at its Springhill Suites in Prescott. When the hotel offered the hosting venue and meeting space, Christensen said she felt compelled to disclose, “We have hardly any Internet in this building. We did not want to overpromise on what we deliver. The subject of fiber optics came up” and the hotels’ conversion was set in motion.
Contracts have been completed and installation begun at the company-managed Flagstaff properties, Sleep Inn by Choice Hotels and Comfort Inn Flagstaff. Contract discussions for its Prescott properties, including the Springhill Suites by Marriott, are underway. Currently being evaluated is how much fiber needs to be placed and those associated costs, Christensen said.
After the changeover is completed, “we expect our guest services scores, especially those related to Internet services, to go up quite a bit,” she said. “It has been the number one disappointing guest services aspect. [High-speed Internet] is something we have to deliver. There’s no choice. We have to fix it and make it the best high-speed Internet in our market. No matter what the cost is, people just expect it. We have to deliver on this.”
Concerted Effort
BloomTree Realty’s new communications configuration was up and running in mid-May, largely because of a concerted effort from both the Prescott real estate firm and CenturyLink.
The CenturyLink team has been “super terrific and responsive” in a project that was “pretty seamless,” said Chris Larson, operations manager for BloomTree Realty, noting that the setup provides 100 megabit upload and download speeds and four access points within the large, corner building.
A major goal for BloomTree’s management is uninterrupted service as agents move throughout the building, Larson explained. He expressed particular satisfaction with the CenturyLink option called Managed Office.
“We now have the fiber optic in and the phone and Internet through [CenturyLink],” he said. “It’s working wonderfully and we have not had an issue… They paid for the equipment. There [are] not a whole lot of upfront costs at all. That’s something we really, really liked… We can show [prospective] agents that we are not only a company with culture and a good business model, but we’re also going to take care of [them] on the technology side.”
Larson also said he appreciates a 1-2-3 dialing shortcut to access technical support from any phone on the network. “It’s very glamorous to not have to call an 800 number.”
Provision of next generation offerings such as video conferencing, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone systems, and cloud-based services is central to CenturyLink’s vision for fiber optic technology, according to Alex A. Juarez, who conducts market development and public relations for the company. With improved transmission over fiber optic facilities, he explained, multiple employees can access the Internet and/or upload/download large multimedia files at the same time with no compromise in speed.
“Improving Internet speeds for businesses is extremely important in order to reliably deliver next generation services that help businesses achieve their potential,” Juarez explained. “Migrating more workloads and software applications to the cloud is a major reason that businesses desire high-speed fiber connections.”
For CenturyLink’s business customers, “fast, symmetrical connection speed provides a tremendous economic advantage because it allows businesses to purchase their information technology (IT) infrastructure through the cloud and avoid costs associated with on-site servers and maintenance of on-premises equipment and hardware,” he continued.
Although declining to disclose the specific amount of investment in fiber optic “near-net” connections, Juarez noted that strong business interest and density usage define where CenturyLink invests “within the capital spending guidance provided to shareholders.”
The company, he stated, will continue to seek similar “economically viable” investments and continue to pass along economies of scale to business customers “in the form of specialized bundles with value-added services for a low monthly price.” QCBN
Photo:
Margo Christensen, vice president of marketing and communications for Ponderosa Hotel Management Services, sits at one of the workstations in the lobby of the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Prescott.
Photo by Sue Marceau
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