• Like **AT&T or Verizon**, but largely for businesses, governments, and other internet companies rather than individual consumers.
• **Kinder Morgan** for digital data, owning and operating a vast fiber optic network that serves as a backbone for businesses and the internet.

• Network Connectivity Services: Provides high-speed internet, private networks (e.g., MPLS, SD-WAN), and dedicated fiber connections for businesses and government clients.
• Voice and Collaboration Services: Offers Voice over IP (VoIP), traditional voice services, and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platforms.
• Security Services: Delivers managed security solutions including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) mitigation, managed firewalls, and threat detection.
• Managed Hosting and Cloud Connectivity: Provides colocation, managed hosting, and secure, high-performance connectivity to various public and private cloud environments.

Lumen Technologies (symbol: LUMN) primarily sells its services to other companies, rather than directly to individuals. However, due to the broad and diversified nature of its client base and the fact that no single customer accounts for more than 10% of its consolidated revenues, Lumen does not disclose specific individual "major customer companies" by name in its public filings. Therefore, instead of listing specific named companies, we can describe the primary categories of organizations that Lumen serves:

• Enterprise Customers: This segment includes a wide array of large and mid-sized businesses across diverse industries such as financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, technology, and media. These companies rely on Lumen for critical services like network connectivity (fiber, IP VPN), cloud connectivity, managed services, security solutions, and unified communications.
• Wholesale Customers: This category comprises other telecommunications carriers, internet service providers (ISPs), content providers, and data center operators. Lumen provides these companies with network capacity, dark fiber, transport services, and other infrastructure solutions that they then use to serve their own end customers.
• Government Customers: Lumen provides secure network services, voice, data, and IT solutions to various federal, state, and local government agencies. This includes mission-critical communications infrastructure and managed services tailored for public sector needs, supporting essential government operations.

Lumen Technologies relies on several major suppliers for its network infrastructure, equipment, and services. Key suppliers include:

• Cisco Systems (CSCO)
• Nokia (NOK)
• Ciena (CIEN)
• Corning (GLW)

Kate Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer

Kate Johnson joined Lumen Technologies as President and CEO in November 2022. She is a seasoned technology leader with a background in driving business and digital transformation at Fortune 100 technology companies. Prior to Lumen, she held executive leadership roles including President of Microsoft US (2017-2021), Executive Vice President and Corporate Officer at GE Digital (2013-2017), and Senior Vice President for North America Technology and Government Consulting at Oracle (2007-2013). Her earlier career also included roles at Red Hat, UBS Investment Bank (where she was Managing Director and Division Chief Information Officer of their investment banking division), and Deloitte Consulting. Ms. Johnson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has served on the board of directors for UPS since 2020.

Chris Stansbury, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Chris Stansbury was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Lumen Technologies in April 2022. He brings over 30 years of finance leadership experience from multinational corporations. Before joining Lumen, he served as Senior Vice President and CFO at Arrow Electronics, Inc., where he was responsible for leading the company's global finance organization from 2016 to 2022, having joined in 2014 as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to Arrow, he was CFO for the Networking Group of Hewlett-Packard. Mr. Stansbury also held various finance positions of increasing responsibility at PepsiCo. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Ashley Haynes-Gaspar, Chief Revenue Officer

Ashley Haynes-Gaspar serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at Lumen, where she is responsible for driving revenue growth and overseeing the company's sales strategies. Her background includes leadership roles at Microsoft and GE, where she gained experience in marketing, operations, and customer experience.

Ana White, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer

Ana White has been an Executive Vice President and the Chief People Officer of Lumen Technologies since July 2023. In this role, she leads global Human Resource teams. Previously, Ms. White served as an Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer for F5 and also led global Human Resource teams at Microsoft.

David Ward, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

David Ward serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Lumen. In this role, he is responsible for driving technological innovation and product development for the company.

Key Risks to Lumen Technologies (LUMN)

Lumen Technologies (LUMN) faces several significant risks to its business, primarily stemming from its substantial debt, the ongoing decline of its legacy services, and the complexities of its strategic transformation. These factors collectively pose challenges to its financial stability and future growth.

The most significant risk to Lumen Technologies is its high debt load and associated financial performance concerns. The company has been contending with a substantial long-term debt, reported at approximately $17.3 billion as of March 2024 and $17.56 billion in long-term debt more recently. This heavy debt burden has been a drag on its credit profile and liquidity, requiring active management through refinancing efforts and asset divestitures aimed at reducing interest costs and extending maturities. Despite these efforts, persistent operating losses and declining revenues continue to raise concerns about the company's profitability and overall financial health.

Secondly, Lumen is significantly impacted by the decline of its legacy products and intense competition within the telecommunications and technology sectors. The company operates in a highly competitive landscape, facing established telecom giants such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast, as well as agile cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. This intense competition and the rapid pace of technological change necessitate continuous adaptation and investment, while the shift away from traditional wireline services to more advanced offerings often comes with lower operating margins and contributes to revenue decline. Lumen's total revenue declined by 11.5% year-over-year in Q3 2024 to $3.22 billion.

Finally, the company's ongoing strategic transformation and divestiture risks present considerable uncertainty. Lumen is in the process of divesting non-core assets, such as its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business, to streamline operations and pivot towards higher-growth enterprise and AI-driven services. While intended to improve the company's financial position and strategic focus, these divestitures are contingent on regulatory approvals and other conditions that may not materialize as anticipated. Furthermore, even if successful, these transactions could lead to unforeseen costs, operational complexities, and potentially reduced cash flows, which could negatively impact credit ratings and broader strategic objectives. The success of this transformation heavily relies on the effective execution of its new strategies and substantial investments in advanced infrastructure, such as Private Connectivity Fabric (PCF) solutions.

The increasing expansion of hyperscale cloud providers (e.g., AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) into global network services and direct enterprise connectivity. These providers are building extensive global fiber networks, points of presence, and edge computing facilities, offering direct connection services (e.g., AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, Google Cloud Interconnect) and integrated network-as-a-service functionalities as part of their cloud ecosystems.

This development threatens Lumen by:

• Disintermediation: As enterprises migrate more applications and data to the cloud, they increasingly procure core networking services and connectivity directly from the hyperscalers, potentially bypassing traditional telecom carriers for crucial segments of their network traffic and management.
• Shifting Control and Value: Hyperscalers are aiming to own a larger share of the enterprise IT and network spend, moving the control point and strategic value away from traditional network providers like Lumen, even for hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
• Competitive Pressure: While Lumen partners with hyperscalers, the cloud providers' growing networking capabilities represent a competitive force for certain enterprise connectivity and managed network services that Lumen traditionally provides.

Lumen Technologies (symbol: LUMN) offers a range of products and services, targeting various addressable markets. The size of these markets, along with their respective regions, is detailed below:

• Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) / Private Connectivity Fabric (PCF): Lumen is positioned in a serviceable addressable market (SAM) for NaaS across Mid-Market and Large Enterprise channels, estimated to grow from $10-15 billion in 2022 to $25-35 billion by 2027. This market is primarily within North America, considering Lumen's focus on its domestic enterprise and global operations. Additionally, Lumen is targeting a new $15 billion Total Addressable Market (TAM) in cloud networking through initiatives like direct fiber access to cloud providers, which is likely a global market opportunity given the nature of cloud services.
• Cloud Voice / Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C): The total addressable market (TAM) for cloud voice, where Lumen offers its Cloud Communications Platform (LCC), is estimated at $47 billion. This is a global market.
• Mass Markets Fiber (Quantum Fiber): In 2022, Lumen had approximately 21 million addressable home and small business locations in its 16-state region within the U.S. for its Quantum Fiber service. However, it is important to note that Lumen announced the sale of approximately 95% of its Mass Markets consumer fiber business, including Quantum Fiber, in eleven states to AT&T for $5.75 billion, a deal expected to close in early 2026. Lumen will retain assets serving enterprise and wholesale fiber customers in all geographies, and its existing copper network for consumer customers. Therefore, the addressable market for Lumen in this segment is significantly reduced after the divestiture.
• Dark Fiber Network Operators: Lumen holds an estimated 17.6% market share in the Dark Fiber Network Operators industry within the U.S.. A specific total market size was not identified in the search results.
• Security Services (e.g., DDoS, SASE): A relevant U.S. business Telco market for security was estimated at $135 billion in 2023, with a 15% CAGR. While a specific addressable market for Lumen's distinct security offerings was not provided, they operate within this broader market.
• Edge Cloud & IT Agility and Managed Services: Specific addressable market sizes for these services were not explicitly identified in the provided search results.

Lumen Technologies (symbol: LUMN) anticipates future revenue growth over the next two to three years will be driven by several strategic initiatives focusing on its enterprise business and advanced network capabilities.

1. Expansion of Private Connectivity Fabric (PCF) and AI-Ready Network Infrastructure: Lumen is prioritizing its enterprise sector, driven by the increasing demand for robust network infrastructure to support artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. The company has secured significant deals for its Private Connectivity Fabric (PCF) offering, including $8.5 billion in 2024 with major hyperscalers and an additional $1 billion in new PCF deals recently, bringing the total awarded deal value beyond $10 billion. This expansion is crucial for building the backbone of the AI economy and facilitating hyperscale cloud deployments.

2. Growth of Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) and Digital Services: Lumen is actively pushing for the adoption of its Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform and other digital offerings to drive high-value digital revenue growth. The company aims to generate between $500 million and $600 million in incremental digital revenue by the end of 2028, primarily by scaling its digital ecosystem and accelerating NaaS adoption. Lumen is developing NaaS capabilities to provide more agile and on-demand network solutions.

3. Strategic Partnerships and the "Connected Ecosystem" Strategy: Lumen is leveraging strategic partnerships to enhance its network capabilities and expand its market reach. Its "Connected Ecosystem" strategy focuses on forming high-impact partnerships, such as those with Google Cloud (April 2025) for dedicated fiber access, Meta (October 2024) to boost AI network capacity, and Palantir. This strategy aims to embed Lumen's network solutions directly into partner marketplaces, accelerating adoption and giving Lumen's connectivity a better position within other companies' cloud and data offerings. The launch of "Internet On-Demand (IOD) off-net" also significantly expands Lumen's addressable market by enabling it to sell digital services even without owning the last-mile connection.

4. Growth in the "Grow" Product Portfolio (Dark Fiber and IP): Lumen's "Grow" product segment, which includes dark fiber and IP services, is a key driver for its North American enterprise revenue. This segment saw a 10.5% year-over-year increase in revenue in a recent quarter, with "Grow" now comprising 50% of North American enterprise revenue, up from 35.5% three years ago. This shift highlights Lumen's successful pivot away from legacy telecom services towards higher-growth, modern network solutions.

Share Repurchases

• Lumen Technologies authorized a share repurchase program of up to $1.5 billion in November 2022, valid for two years.
• As of July 28, 2023, $200 million of the authorized $1.5 billion share repurchase program had been utilized.
• A $1.0 billion stock repurchase program was completed on October 5, 2021, involving the repurchase of 80.9 million shares at an average price of $12.36 per share.

Capital Expenditures

• Lumen's capital expenditures averaged $3.195 billion annually from fiscal years 2020 to 2024, peaking at $3.729 billion in 2020 and reaching a 5-year low of $2.9 billion in 2021.
• For fiscal year 2024, capital expenditures were $3.23 billion, with an earlier forecast of $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion.
• The company forecasts capital expenditures for fiscal year 2025 to be between $4.1 billion and $4.3 billion, primarily focused on enhancing infrastructure, expanding service capabilities, supporting the AI economy, and executing Private Connectivity Fabric (PCF) contracts.