Lumen launches Multi-Cloud Gateway (MCGW) and expands metro fiber network after selling consumer FTTH business to AT&T
Lumen Technologies has announced a new Multi-Cloud Gateway (MCGW) and expanded its metro fiber optic network across 16 major U.S. markets, delivering up to 400G b/sec connectivity to support high-speed AI data processing. This initiative provides a software-defined, self-service platform for secure, private, and flexible connections between enterprise data centers and cloud providers.
Lumen says the new MCGW product and expanded fiber footprint will simplify how data moves across hybrid environments by bringing both centralized multi-cloud routing and high-capacity private metro connectivity. The result will be a more consistent, controllable networking foundation for AI and other modern workloads. This expansion is part of a broader strategy where Lumen plans to reach 58 million fiber miles by 2031 to meet the soaring demand for AI-ready infrastructure.
“Moving data across hybrid environments is a lot like managing air traffic – you need clear routes, predictable timing, and the ability to adjust when conditions change. Most legacy networks weren’t built for that level of coordination,” said Jim Fowler, Lumen chief technology and product officer. “With our expanded network fabric, Lumen gives enterprises a way to move data securely, effortlessly, and consistently across clouds, data centers, and edge locations, designed to reduce the complexity that hold AI-driven operations back.”
Multi-Cloud Gateway: Multi-Cloud Gateway (MCGW) is a core element of Lumen’s shift to cloud-based telecom. Built as a software-defined, self-service routing layer on Lumen’s global fiber network, MCGW provides private, high-capacity connectivity among enterprises, hyperscalers and emerging cloud platforms. It turns traditional telecom interconnection into a programmable cloud fabric, allowing customers to dynamically connect cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-enterprise environments, optimize traffic for performance and cost, and support advanced use cases such as AI workload distribution and real-time data exchange. By unifying connectivity, routing and policy, MCGW is designed to reduce operational complexity, speed time to service and lower total cost of ownership.
Lumen Multi-Cloud Gateway:
Image credit: Lumen Technologies
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Metro Ethernet & IP Services: Expanded high-capacity, dedicated connectivity across 16 U.S. markets, delivering up to 100Gbps between regional data centers, campuses, and edge locations and up to 400Gbps at key cloud data centers in those markets. This enables fast, secure movement of massive datasets for AI training, analytics, replication, and disaster recovery.
Recently upgraded markets include Northern Virginia; Atlanta; Chicago; Columbus; Dallas; Denver; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; New York City; Phoenix; Portland; San Antonio; San Jose; and Seattle.
“AI is reshaping network design, pushing enterprises to move from experimentation to execution with architectures that reduce latency, cost variability, and operational complexity,” said Courtney Munroe, Vice President, Worldwide Telecommunications Research at IDC. “As workloads become more distributed and performance sensitive, organizations are rethinking how they connect edge sites, data centers, and multiple clouds, and Lumen’s network fabric shows how programmable networks can deliver more consistent data movement.”
The business impact is immediate and practical for industries scaling their AI ambitions:Financial Services: Keep risk, payments, and fraud workloads synchronized across multiple clouds with centralized policy control for lower latency and more predictable performance.
- Retail: Improve business agility by accelerating data movement across cloud and enterprise environments, so analytics keep pace with changing demand.
- Healthcare: Maintain data separation, support telehealth services, imaging and analytics, disaster recovery, and manage research workloads across institutions and resource centers.
- Manufacturing: Connect regional facilities and cloud environments to enable real-time analytics and predictive maintenance.
- Multi-Cloud Gateway (MCGW): Launched and available as of February 17, 2026, as a software-defined, self-service routing layer.
- Metro Network Expansion: Currently live across 16 major U.S. markets (including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles), offering up to 400 Gbps at key cloud data centers.
- Internet On-Demand: Expanded in late 2025 to over 10 million new business locations, providing “cloud-like” connectivity scalability within minutes.
- Wavelength RapidRoutes: Available for deployment in just 20 business days, significantly faster than industry standard turn-up times.
- Microsoft: Chosen to expand Microsoft’s network capacity to support surging demand for Azure AI services. Microsoft utilizes Lumen’s Private Connectivity Fabric (PCF) for custom network architecture between data centers.
- Google Cloud: Partnered to modernize Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offerings. This allows Lumen-managed SD-WAN and security services to be hosted directly in Google Cloud regions.
- Palantir Technologies: A multi-year alliance formed in October 2025 to combine Lumen’s connectivity fabric with Palantir’s Foundry and AI Platform (AIP), enabling enterprises to deploy AI faster in multi-cloud environments.
- Other Hyperscalers: Lumen has secured approximately $8.5 billion in private connectivity deals with companies including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Meta to support their AI model training.
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On February 2nd, Lumen announced that it completed the sale of its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in 11 states, including Quantum Fiber, to AT&T for $5.75 billion in cash. The sale includes substantially all of the related consumer fiber access network and customer relationships in those 11 states, which serve more than 1 million fiber customers and reaches more than 4 million enabled fiber locations. The completed transaction is another strategic milestone in Lumen’s transformation into the leading enterprise digital networking services company built for the multi-cloud, AI-driven economy rather than for consumer fiber access.
As part of the completed transaction, Lumen will retain assets that will continue to serve as the foundation of its enterprise transformation, including all national, regional, state, and metro level fiber backbone network infrastructure, central offices and associated real estate. In addition, Lumen is retaining and caring for its copper-based consumer services, which continue to provide a strong ongoing financial contribution to Lumen. The enterprise and wholesale fiber customers will remain with Lumen in all geographies.
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About Lumen Technologies:
Lumen is unleashing the world’s digital potential. We ignite business growth by connecting people, data, and applications – quickly, securely, and effortlessly. As the trusted network for AI, Lumen uses the scale of our network to help companies realize AI’s full potential. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, managed service, and digital platform capabilities, we meet our customers’ needs today and as they build for tomorrow.
When networks shift from constraint to enabler, organizations can move faster, scale with confidence, and unlock greater innovation. To learn more about these products and availability timelines, visit Multi-Cloud Gateway and Connectivity Services.
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References:
https://assets.lumen.com/is/content/Lumen/lumen-multi-cloud-gateway-data-sheet
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