CenturyLink solidifies Asia Pacific global wholesale position,
following Level 3 acquisition deal
With Level 3 assets now in its fold, CenturyLink is looking to enhance its business in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, a move that reflects its growing global capabilities to address multinational corporations (MNCs) that have business in the area or need access into the United States.
Both CenturyLink and Level 3, when they were separate companies, always had a presence in APAC, but each of the service providers managed it as an extension of its North American sales organization.
Before the merger, CenturyLink and Level 3 were building out network and related facilities in the region. Having a larger combined set of fiber and network assets positions the new CenturyLink to respond to its customers in Asia Pacific.
Matt Gutierrez, who was recently named senior managing director for Asia Pacific at CenturyLink APAC, told FierceTelecom that the service provider can now build on the sales funnel opportunities it has.
Both CenturyLink and Level 3, when they were separate companies, always had a presence in APAC, but each of the service providers managed it as an extension of its North American sales organization.
Before the merger, CenturyLink and Level 3 were building out network and related facilities in the region. Having a larger combined set of fiber and network assets positions the new CenturyLink to respond to its customers in Asia Pacific.
Matt Gutierrez, who was recently named senior managing director for Asia Pacific at CenturyLink APAC, told FierceTelecom that the service provider can now build on the sales funnel opportunities it has.
RELATED: CenturyLink taps Gutierrez to lead APAC market effort
Matt Gutierrez
“CenturyLink and Level 3 had a lot of customers in Asia, but we never treated Asia Pacific as a region,” Gutierrez said. “Both companies managed it as an extension of North America out of the sales organizations, which has worked quite well for us, but when you look at how we developed it’s an area we think we should be more attentive to and focused on serving.”
Expanding its influence
Advancing its Asia Pacific market influence should not be a big stretch for the new CenturyLink. The service provider will continue to focus on the MNC customers it has already and look to attract others that it may have not been able to win before because its story in the region was not as strong as a competitor like AT&T or Verizon.
“If our customer sets are the existing multinational companies that we have as customers already in North America, EMEA and Latin America who buy from us in Asia or in some cases bids we lost out because we did not have as robust offering as some of our competition, it is us looking at the region and seeing where we want to make the investments,” Gutierrez said.
“These investments would focus on bringing us up to par and helping our customers focus on the global needs from the digital transformation they are going through and how do we enable that on a global basis.”
Since each country in the Asia Pacific has its own rules about foreign network ownership, CenturyLink will partner with other local carriers to get necessary fiber and IP-based service access to business customers.
Expanding its influence
Advancing its Asia Pacific market influence should not be a big stretch for the new CenturyLink. The service provider will continue to focus on the MNC customers it has already and look to attract others that it may have not been able to win before because its story in the region was not as strong as a competitor like AT&T or Verizon.
“If our customer sets are the existing multinational companies that we have as customers already in North America, EMEA and Latin America who buy from us in Asia or in some cases bids we lost out because we did not have as robust offering as some of our competition, it is us looking at the region and seeing where we want to make the investments,” Gutierrez said.
“These investments would focus on bringing us up to par and helping our customers focus on the global needs from the digital transformation they are going through and how do we enable that on a global basis.”
Since each country in the Asia Pacific has its own rules about foreign network ownership, CenturyLink will partner with other local carriers to get necessary fiber and IP-based service access to business customers.
