Call Now!866-405-1951
Older descriptions of CenturyLink data centers can make it sound as though one company still owns every facility once associated with the name. A dated corporate filing tells a narrower story. On May 1, 2017, CenturyLink completed the sale of its data center and colocation business. We want those distinctions to be clear before anyone uses an old infrastructure claim to judge a current service.
CenturyLink disclosed that it sold its data center and colocation business on May 1, 2017, to a consortium led by BC Partners and Medina Capital. The transaction included 57 data centers. These are documented historical facts in CenturyLink's 2017 SEC filing, a quarterly report for the period ended September 30, 2017.
Colocation means that a customer can place its own computing equipment in a facility operated by another business, subject to a service agreement. It does not mean every piece of fiber serving customers was sold in the same transaction.
The filing also describes a continuing commercial relationship, including a leaseback of some data center space and a minority ownership stake at that time. The sale was a specific corporate transaction, and a 2017 report cannot establish who owns or operates each former facility in 2026.
The terms often appear together in marketing, but they answer separate questions. A physical facility houses computing equipment. Network infrastructure carries data between locations. The connection into a residence provides the final service a household actually uses. We find this comparison useful:
| Part of the system | Main role | What it tells a home customer |
|---|---|---|
| Data center | Houses servers and associated equipment | Little about the speed at a specific address |
| Transport network | Moves data across network links | A potential component of service capacity |
| Residential connection | Links the household to its provider | Needs an address-specific offer and performance check |
The U.S. Department of Energy describes the building and server side of data center infrastructure, including the facilities' energy needs. That helps explain why a building inventory is a different measure from the download speed or reliability experienced in a living room.
A provider can purchase connectivity or lease facility space without owning the building involved.
The sale tells us that a defined set of data center assets changed hands in 2017. It does not tell us the price, upload speed, equipment requirements, or service availability for a household evaluating internet access now. Those questions require present-day terms and an address-specific check.
Nor does the transaction automatically mean a residential customer's service stopped, improved, or moved to another provider. A service agreement may continue while facility ownership changes; the 2017 filing alone cannot describe the terms of any individual home connection.
Our older descriptions of CenturyLink infrastructure should therefore be read with dates in mind. A statement that was accurate before a sale might become misleading when presented without that event. Readers should be able to distinguish a documented past business from a service someone can order today.
When an infrastructure claim appears in a plan description or an older company profile, check its context first. We suggest asking these questions before using it in a purchasing decision:
What year does the claim describe? A dated asset count may reflect a business that changed hands. Is it talking about buildings, leased space, fiber transport, or the line to your address? Those are different parts of a network. Finally, is there a current service disclosure that connects the historical claim to the product you are considering? If the answer is unclear, ask for current terms instead of guessing.
A large network footprint does not guarantee an offer at your street address.
We review our service background with this distinction in mind: historical corporate descriptions need dates, while a household needs today's offer.
For a home internet decision, focus on address eligibility, the technology offered, the full monthly cost, and current service disclosures. Those details are more useful than an undated claim about how many buildings a company once owned.