Apr 15 2010
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) today announced that the company has enhanced the performance and service options offered on its low-latency, fiber-optic network between New York and Chicago. With this enhancement, Level 3 is offering two new ultra-low-latency: options backed by service level guarantees.
Level 3’s new latency improvements now provide customers with a choice among three grades of ultra-low-latency performance. Offering circuit speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second, the enhanced service offerings enable customers – primarily financial institutions – to choose the performance and pricing option that best suits their needs. In addition, Level 3 is now able to provide protected circuit configurations that use ultra-low-latency routes for both the primary and the backup paths.
“The financial sector relies heavily on the ability to minimize transaction cycle time and Level 3 is dedicated to advancing its services and network performance to better serve these customers,” said Paul Savill, senior vice president of product management for Level 3.
“By providing these new ultra-low-latency service offerings on fiber assets that we control and manage end-to-end, we have given our customers more freedom to optimize across our network and continue to challenge the industry with a premium infrastructure and first-class performance.”
“Latency has always been important, but it has emerged as a critical performance parameter for specialized financial applications,” said Erik Kreifeldt, senior analyst for TeleGeography. “Offering advanced levels of low-latency performance provides valuable differentiation for wavelength services.”
With approximately 54,000 long-haul fiber miles and 27,000 metro fiber miles in the U.S., Level 3 operates an extensive and diverse network. As a result, Level 3 offers multiple low-latency options for a variety of routes. Additionally, Level 3 offers direct connection to low-latency, trans-Atlantic routes with diverse landing stations to enable network security and business continuity.