Lumen (LUMN) Gets Wi-Fi 7 Certification for Wireless Devices
Lumen Technologies LUMN recently obtained Wi-Fi 7 certification for two wireless devices. The company debuted these devices a few days back which are ideal for bandwidth-heavy activities like gaming, virtual reality, 8K video streaming and large data transfers.
Lumen noted that it is the first company in the industry to achieve Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices with its custom-developed solutions.
Wi-Fi Alliance certified two Lumen Wi-Fi 7 devices are W1700K (can be used as a desk or wall mount) and W1701K (wall plug-in device).
These Wi-Fi 7 capable devices will cover 90% of homes with higher data capacity compared with Wi-Fi 6/6E. This will reduce the need of additional nodes. These devices will support multiple users and gigabit bandwidth demands with 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz radios working simultaneously for high-speed data transmission. This will diminish the need to run ethernet cable throughout home.
These devices will be offering less than 3 milliseconds of latency and continuous integration with Quantum Fiber's multi-gig network with symmetrical speeds up to 8 Gbps, highlighted Lumen.
These devices also support cloud-powered Digital Twin technology, and leverage carrier grade OpenWRT standard with Wi-Fi EasyMesh and prplMesh. This will aid in boosting orchestration in real time and advanced device-management functionality.
Lumen Technologies, Inc. Price and Consensus
Lumen Technologies, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Lumen Technologies, Inc. Quote
Lumen is making heavy investment in its quantum fiber business. Quantum Fiber is available to small businesses and homes across parts of 16 states. LUMN had 896,000 quantum fiber subscribers at the end of third-quarter 2023.
The company noted that its first customer Wi-Fi 7 device was installed in December. Wi-Fi 7 will be available to new customers later this month.
Management anticipates witnessing healthy momentum in the Quantum business in the upcoming quarters. Continued momentum in cloud, colocation and intellectual property augurs well.
The company entered into a debt-restructuring agreement with a set of creditors holding $7 billion in debt in November 2023. The deal will provide another $1.2 billion of fresh financing to Lumen.
However, in December 2023, the company was reportedly seeking more time from creditors to conclude its debt restructuring deal, per a report from Bloomberg.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that LUMN is holding talks with its bank lenders to gain support for a debt deal to extend maturities.
As of Sep 30, 2023, the company had $311 million in cash and cash equivalents with $19,740 million of long-term debt compared with the respective figures of $411 million and $19,899 million as of Jun 30, 2023.
Lumen currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks worth consideration in the broader technology space are Watts Water Technologies WTS, NETGEAR NTGR and Blackbaud BLKB. While NETGEAR currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Watts Water and Blackbaud carry a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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