Lumen Technologies consists of roughly 400 subsidiary companies. You may recall that this company is composed of CenturyLink/CenturyTel, Qwest, USWest, Level3, Broadwing, Global Crossing, Genuity (AS1), BBN, Embarq, United Telephone (Sprint), Savvis, TelCove, WilTel, TWTC, Progress, BTE, TelUSA, XCOM, Vyvx, FTV, Corvis, Xspedius, and Black Lotus Group. That is a lot of networks that over the years have been merged or closed or stranded. Over the last 24 months they have been decommissioning networks, switches and other legacy assets.
Earlier this year, Lumen announced that is was exiting the voice game. Level3 was the a vendor to more than 70% of the VoIP Providers in the US, either directly or through a reseller. This goes beyond closing the copper plant. They have shut of the Global Crossing voice network.
They sold CenturyLink assets to AT&T this year. One more step in ridding itself of “technical debt”.
Lumen sent an email yesterday stating that they are no longer quoting DIA (dedicated internet access).
“Effective October 1, 2026, Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) closes to new quotes, with a defined exception path. New DIA quoting will be restricted in our quoting systems, with exceptions available where a customer’s validated solutioning needs cannot yet be met by Intelligent Internet. DIA is not going away and is not being retired. Our existing DIA customers continue to be fully supported operationally, including renewals, allowable modifications, and disconnects.”internet
I understand leaning on Fiber for AI like Zayo, Lumen and UNITI are doing. I understand closing legacy voice networks. Yet no more DIA seems like a bridge too far. Partners will have to explain to customers why NaaS or Dynamic Bandwidth are better, yet more expensive options.
“Together, we have an opportunity to help customers modernize for the AI era. You can now position Lumen® Intelligent Internet as a smarter, more agile approach to connectivity that empowers organizations to scale, innovate, and adapt with confidence.”
This is almost saying: we no longer want SMB business. We want Enterprise, GEM and larger mid-size. This is a recipe many have tried, but there are only 21,000 businesses that fit that size. And you have to convince them, inside their own budget cycles, initiatives and carrier renewals, to migrate to Dynamic Bandwidth. Okay. That is a tough road to plow.
Lumen is re-branding for the next gen, but leaving behind all the services that pay the bills – and service their huge debt load ($15B).
During the last 24 months, dealing with customers who have 60 days to find an alternative has been challenging. For switched long distance and toll-free numbers, it was a challenge to keep the numbers and port to a new carrier.
For DIA customers, this will be a different difficulty since a lot of business addresses do not have multiple fiber connections. Never was there a better time for Connectbase and other fiber finder services.
If Lumen is your vendor, give me a shout to help you find an alternative solution! 813-963-5884
Fierce has an opinion on this strategy as well.
RAD-INFO’s State of ISP Report 2026 will be available in PDF in October. Pre-sale rate of $25