CenturyLink Teams with Cisco for Managed Enterprise Services

CenturyLink Inc. CTL has decided to offer managed enterprise services in association with Cisco Systems Inc.'s CSCO subsidiary, Cisco Meraki. This managed service will reduce the number of devices on-site and will provide easy access to information through a single cloud-based interface for single or multisite customers. Additionally, it will achieve an efficient deployment and monitoring of Wi-Fi networks, security, wireless, phone, video surveillance and SD-WAN services through a single administrative dashboard.

Cisco Meraki can also integrate with other CenturyLink offerings, including Managed Office, Fiber+, and Location-Based Analytics. CenturyLink has fixed monthly per-device pricing for the managed solution.

Over the last three years, CenturyLink has been trying all means to establish itself as a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions arena designed for enterprise customers. The company's strong network capabilities, integrated hosting and network solutions are likely to promote growth in the cloud business.

In May 2017, CenturyLink and Level 3 Communications LVLT moved one step ahead in completing their proposed merger. The combined entity is likely to generate $975 million of annual cash synergies. The deal is anticipated to be closed in the third quarter of 2017, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Last year, CenturyLink acquired cloud app management specialist, ElasticBox, that will allow its customers to manage applications across 12 different cloud providers including Amazon.com Inc.'s AMZN Amazon Web Services, International Business Machines Corporation's IBM Softlayer service, Microsoft Corporation's Azure and Alphabet Inc.'s GOOGL Compute Engine.

Price Performance of CenturyLink:

Over the last three months, shares of CenturyLink increased by 14.56% while the Zacks categorized U.S. Wireless National  industry declined by 6.13%.

CenturyLink is investing in fiber-to-the-tower (FTTT) expansion and has expanded its fiber-based backhaul services. It  plans to launch over the top OTT services in 2017. However, loss in access lines, declining legacy voice services revenues, tough competition, federal regulations and the need to upgrade technology are other risks. We believe that these are the primary reasons for CenturyLink currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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