Qwest Communications
International Inc. and Centurion
Telecommunications Corp. Monday sealed a five-year, $20 million contract.
Qwest will provide Dublin, Ohio-based Centurion with DS-3 (45
megabits-per-second)Internet Protocol(IP) connectivity on its nationwide
fiber optic network.
Centurion is an Internet service provider and also offers high speed data
services. Centurion recently launched a two-way, high-speed wireless
Internet access service, known as FlashNetUSA. The FlashNetUSA system will
integrate Centurion’s 2.4 gigahertz spectrum wireless technology with
Qwest’s connectivity to create a high capacity wireless communications
network. The network will carry mission-critical data for commercial,
institutional and educational customers.
Qwest’s domestic network is expected to span over 18,500 route miles and
serve more than 130 cities, equivalent to about 80 percent of the data
and voice traffic originating in the United States. Currently approximately
9,100 miles of the Qwest macro capacity fiber network are activated and
construction has started on 17,955 miles. The entire U.S. network is slated
for completion by the second quarter of 1999. Qwest’s transcontinental
segment extends from Los Angeles to Sacramento and across to New York.
“We are pleased to be working with Centurion, a fast-growing communications
company well positioned to leverage the data transmission capabilities of
both wireless and fiber optic communications networks,” said Lewis O.
Wilks, Qwest’s president of business markets.
“Centurion is excited about entering into this agreement and relationship
with Qwest,” says Joe Reddy, vice president of marketing and sales for
Centurion. “Centurion’s rapid deployment of its wireless network requires
access to a state-of-the-art fiber-optic backbone network that can support
the speed, reliability, capacity and level of service that meets our needs
and our customers’ needs.
“Today’s data intense business environment is all about speed and
bandwidth. Centurion’s wireless solution provides data transmission and
Internet speeds unparalleled by any standard hard-wire connection, more
securely and at a much lower cost,” Reddy said.
