Lumen Exiting Voice: What Enterprises Must Do | Bandwidth

Lumen Technologies announced in 2026 that it will stop accepting new enterprise voice contracts for services including SIP trunking, PRI, toll-free, hosted voice, and Voice Complete, affecting offerings sold under legacy brands such as CenturyLink, Qwest, US West, and Embarq, while existing contracts are expected to remain active through their terms. The move reflects Lumen’s strategic emphasis on AI-era networking and Network-as-a-Service, and is presented as part of a broader industry shift away from copper-based and other legacy voice infrastructure, with AT&T and Verizon also reducing legacy voice offerings. Organizations using affected services are encouraged to identify their contracts, connected systems, number inventories, emergency calling arrangements, and renewal dates, particularly where agreements expire within six to twelve months, because end-of-sale status can complicate renewals and long-term pricing. The discussion recommends assessing alternatives based on direct PSTN ownership, reliability, platform interoperability, migration support, and a provider’s ongoing commitment to voice services, while positioning Bandwidth as one such cloud-native carrier option.

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