centurylink

Customer Segments

CenturyLink offers a broad range of communications products and services to a broad customer base. The Company’s customers can be organised broadly into the following customer categories:

  • Consumers Customers, comprising residential customers, including individuals and families across multiple consumer demographics;
  • Business Customers, comprising small, medium and enterprise businesses, as well as government bodies, to which the Company provides a range of commercial communications services; and
  • Wholesale Customers, comprising various commercial and government entities, including other telecommunications companies, to which the Company provides products and services on a wholesale basis. CenturyLink’s core market is its native US, where its serves a broad range of commercial and consumer customers. The Company also provides services to customers across other parts of North America, as well as in parts of Europe and Asia Pacific.

Value Propositions

CenturyLink offers value to its customers in the following ways:

  • Its size and industry standing, with the Company established as one of the foremost providers of telecommunications services in North America, with a significant market share and a reputation for providing reliable services;
  • Its broad range of products and services, with the Company offering a broad range of communications products and services to a diverse customer base, including high-speed internet, Ethernet, wireless, and cloud hosting services;
  • Its international reach, with the Company serving customers across jurisdictions in Europe and Asia Pacific, as well as across its native North America;
  • Its technologies and intellectual properties, with the Company owning and utilising a number of proprietary and third party technologies in its services, in order to ensure reliable and effective services; and
  • Its industry expertise and experience, with the Company employing highly trained industry specialists, as well as a team of experienced industry professionals. ### Channels

CenturyLink operates a website at www.centurylink.com, through which it provides information on its products and services, including its wholesale and business offerings. Consumers are able to order telephone, internet, and television bundles directly through the Company’s website. The Company also provides an online customer portal, for both consumer and business customers, which allows customers to manage their accounts and make payments.

CenturyLink makes the majority of its sales through its in-house direct sales force. The Company maintains local offices in many of the larger population centres within its local service areas, through which the Company’s sales and customer support teams provide services. The Company also utilises its call centre personnel, as well as a number of channel partners, to promote sales of services.

The majority of CenturyLink’s services and products are provided using the Company’s own telecommunications network, which comprises a series of voice switches, data switches and routers, high-speed transport equipment, fiber-optic and copper cables, and other equipment. The Company’s local exchange carrier networks also include central offices and remote site assets.

Customer Relationships

CenturyLink provides a range of products to its consumer customers on a self-service basis through its website. This channel enables customers to browse products and bundles independently and order service packages without interacting directly with the Company’s sales personnel. The Company’s online portal also allows consumers and business customers to manage their accounts and make payments independently.

CenturyLink makes the bulk of its sales through its direct sales force, which operates out of the Company’s offices and call centres. These sales personnel consult directly with customers, providing personalised advice and guidance on the Company’s various product and service offerings. The Company provides services primarily under fixed-term contracts.

CenturyLink provides ongoing support to its customers, principally through its call centre-based customer support staff. Customers are able to access tailored assistance from support personnel over the phone, by email, or via an online chat service. The Company additionally offers a range of support resources through its website, including FAQs and product guides.

Customers are also able to follow CenturyLink’s activities and interact with the Company directly through its social media accounts, including with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Key Activities

CenturyLink is a US-based telecommunications company, engaged primarily in the provision of various communications products and services.

The Company aligns its operations into two core operating segments: Business, which provides strategic, legacy and data integration products and services to small, medium and enterprise business, as well as wholesale and governmental customers; and Consumer, which provides strategic and legacy products and services to residential customers.

CenturyLink offers a wide range of communications products and services, including ethernet, colocation, hosting and broadband, data integration offerings, and cloud hosting services for business customers, and broadband and video, wireless, and local and long-distance voice services for consumers.

Key Partners

CenturyLink manages a diverse partner ecosystem, ensuring that it is able to provide reliable and effective services. The Company’s partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:

  • Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of technologies, services, and equipment that are utilised across the Company’s two operating segments, as well as companies to which non-technical functions can be outsourced;
  • Channel and Distribution Partners, comprising various third parties involved in marketing and selling the company’s products and services, including authorised resellers, and independent software vendors;
  • Technology Partners, comprising various technology companies, including original equipment manufacturers and systems integrators, that help to ensure the Company’s systems remain up to date and efficient;
  • Telecommunications Partners, comprising various companies and organisational bodies within the telecoms sector, with which the Company seeks to identify and promote energy-efficient technologies and equipment; and
  • Strategic and Alliance Partners, comprising market leading companies across multiple industries, with which the company collaborates on various joint marketing, branding, and other projects. CenturyLink has a number of key partnerships in place. This includes an alliance partnership with Carrier Access Inc, a systems integration partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and a technology partnership with VMWare.

Key Resources

CenturyLink’s key resources are its technologies and intellectual properties, its equipment and supply chain, its website and online client portal, its IT and communications infrastructure, its physical network infrastructure, its offices and call centres, its partnerships, and its personnel.

Both directly and through a number of subsidiaries, CenturyLink owns and numerous patent, trademarks, and other intellectual properties that are key in differentiating its offerings from those of its competitors. Searches of records published by the us Patent and Trademark Office identified numerous patent applications filed in CenturyLink’s name including applications entitled ‘Apical conduit and methods of using same’, ‘System and method for set-top box call connection’ and ‘Command and control of devices and applications by voice using a communication base system’.

CenturyLink additionally owns and or leases a number of physical properties that are important to its offerings. This notably includes its network of offices and call centres, as well as telephone lines, cables, and other network support assets.

Cost Structure

CenturyLink incurs costs in relation to the development of its technologies and intellectual properties, the procurement of equipment and services, the development of its online platforms, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the development and maintenance of its physical network infrastructure, the operation of its offices and call centre assets, the management of its partnerships, the implementation of advertising and marketing campaigns, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2015 CenturyLink recorded total cost of services and products – including employee-related expenses such as salaries, facilities expenses, and rent and utilities expenses – in the amount of $7.78 billion, and selling, general, and administrative expenses – including marketing and advertising costs – in the amount of $3.33 billion.

Revenue Streams

CenturyLink generates revenue through the provision of various communications products and services to consumers, businesses, and wholesale customers. The Company principally derives its revenue under fixed-term service contracts, as well as through non-recurring services, such as inside wire installation, maintenance services, service activation and reactivation.

In 2015 CenturyLink generated operating revenue for the year in the amount of $17.90 billion, down slightly on the $18.03 billion recorded by the Company in 2014. The bulk of the Company’s revenue, around 59% was generated by its Business segment, with the Company’s Consumer segment accounting for around 34%. Approximately 7% of the Company’s revenue was attributed to other operating revenues.

Written on October 25, 2017