Lumen Technologies has surpassed 1,000 customers on its Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform, marking a significant milestone in the shift toward more agile and scalable enterprise connectivity. As artificial intelligence drives new operational models across industries, enterprises are seeking ways to modernize their networks without the complexity of legacy infrastructure.
Lumen’s NaaS platform addresses this demand by offering near-instant provisioning, flexible bandwidth, and integrated security, enabling organizations to adapt quickly to changing workloads.
Ashley Haynes-Gaspar, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at Lumen, characterized the achievement as a signpost in the company’s mission to power the next generation of business. The platform, launched in late 2023, has already been recognized as the 2024 NaaS Service Provider of the Year in North America and continues to expand across the U.S., targeting an economy increasingly shaped by AI-driven applications.
Lumen’s NaaS offering consolidates on-demand networking capabilities into a unified platform, allowing customers to connect offices, hyperscalers, and third-party data centers in minutes via self-service portals. Services include Internet On-Demand for public connectivity, Ethernet On-Demand for private layer 2 links, and IP VPN On-Demand for private layer 3 networking. Built-in security options include automated DDoS mitigation and threat intelligence from Lumen’s Black Lotus Labs, aimed at blocking malicious traffic before it reaches enterprise networks.
Expansive Network Backbone
Customers span a broad range of industries, using the platform for applications from cloud migration and SaaS integration to high-profile live events. Clients include Best Buy, Churchill Downs Racetrack, Columbia Sportswear, and MTN Satellite Communications. For example, Churchill Downs deployed high-capacity secure connections in minutes to support media coverage and vendor operations during the Kentucky Derby, while IT service provider IVision cited dynamic bandwidth provisioning as a key enabler for its disaster recovery and backup services.
The platform is underpinned by one of the most expansive networks in the world, with approximately 163,000 on-net buildings and 340,000 global fiber route miles. Lumen is investing heavily to expand this footprint, aiming for 47 million intercity fiber miles by 2028, increasing backbone capacity, and scaling beyond 100G capabilities. These enhancements are designed to reduce latency and deliver AI-optimized connectivity across major enterprise and cloud corridors.
By combining on-demand flexibility with a large-scale, deeply interconnected network, Lumen is positioning its NaaS platform as a foundational service for enterprises navigating the demands of AI-era workloads. The company’s investments in network expansion and automation suggest a focus on keeping pace with the rapid growth of high-performance, secure, and scalable connectivity requirements.
About Lumen Technologies
Lumen Technologies, Inc. is an American telecommunications and enterprise technology company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana. It provides a broad range of products and services including network, security, cloud, voice, and managed communications solutions through its extensive fiber optic and copper networks, data centers, and cloud services.
