Enterprises can’t wait months for high-capacity connections, and Lumen Technologies knows it. The company just introduced Wavelength RapidRoutes, a ready-to-deploy service delivering 100G and up to 400G connections with a 20-day service level agreement (SLA).
“Enterprises can’t afford to wait for critical connectivity,” said Dave Ward, chief technology and product officer, Lumen. “With RapidRoutes, we’re eliminating the friction—no more long quoting periods or engineering delays. … With a 20-day SLA for service delivery and speeds up to 400G on prioritized routes across Lumen’s intercity fiber network—with plans to grow to over 47 million miles by the end of 2028—we’re redefining what it means to connect with confidence and speed.”
Basically, Lumen is positioning RapidRoutes as “built for the AI era.”
Supporting data-heavy industries
The offering targets enterprises, hyperscalers, content providers, government agencies, and industries that need to move massive amounts of data quickly.
Because the routes are pre-engineered, they don’t require custom builds. That allows Lumen to provision capacity on prioritized paths immediately, making the process significantly more predictable.
Lumen’s wavelength solutions also plug directly into more than 125 cloud on-ramps, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle, and IBM. Hyperscalers are already significant users of this network, accounting for approximately 30 percent of traffic in 2022, with Lumen expecting that share to increase to 45 percent this year.
Expanding the 400G footprint
RapidRoutes tie into a much bigger expansion plan. Lumen is expanding its 400G reach to 100,000 wavelength route miles and adding 1.26 petabytes of new capacity across more than 300 locations in 25 metro markets. The goal is to give industries more breathing room to handle the nonstop growth in AI and cloud traffic.
And they’ve already stress-tested the network. Earlier this year, Lumen and Ciena pulled off a 1.2-terabit wavelength trial over 3,050 kilometers of ultra-low-loss fiber, setting a record for the longest non-regenerated signal at that speed. The test proved the network could carry wavelength, Ethernet, and IP services across major intercity routes without breaking a sweat.
Bringing a digital-first approach
With the network buildout, Lumen is layering in digital tools to simplify how enterprises buy and manage services. Its Connectivity Fabric and Connected Ecosystem platforms enable businesses to purchase, provision, and scale network capacity in a manner similar to cloud services. With more than 300 automated workflows and AI-driven tools, enterprises can scale bandwidth when needed while reducing manual processes.
Combined, RapidRoutes and these digital capabilities reflect Lumen’s push to simplify enterprise networking in a world where AI and cloud demand speed.
Lumen’s push mirrors broader industry shifts. In August, Dell updated its AI Data Platform with new partnerships and NVIDIA-powered servers, underscoring how infrastructure is evolving to keep pace with AI workloads.