T1 Internet Service Prices and Rates Quotes in River Vale

CLECs Gain Ground with SMBs

Monday April 20, 2009, 09:46 pm ET

DRAPER, Utah, Apr. 20 /Patrick Oborn/ -- For many small to medium size businesses, higher productivity with relation to their broadband and voice services is just around the corner. Thanks in part to the recent price reduction trend in the industry, carriers have deemed it necessary to consolidate in order to offer more services at a lower cost than their rivals. Overlapping networks have been consolidated into leaner, more feature-rich versions of their previous selves, dramatically lowering the price small businesses pay for the popular dynamic integrated T-carrier (T-1) lines that combine local voice and high-speed Internet service into one connection.

Adoption of new technologies take time, and dynamic integrated T1 service is no different. Since the telephone service is regarded more as a utility than anything, business pay very little attention to changes in the industry. Significant price reductions and incentive packages need to be placed on their doorstep by proactive consultants and telecom salespeople in order to grab their attention. However, once the new technology begins becoming commonplace in the industry, momentum builds and soon the new products become standard. Businesses soon see themselves at a disadvantage to their piers if they don't adapt and keep up.

Min Lieu owns a small insurance agency in Indiana. Five years ago he signed up with XO Communications for a TDM-based integrated T1 line for $870/month, which did not include local or long distance calling. Recently, he was offered XO's version of a dynamic circuit called "XO Flex" for half of the price he was already paying. "I would have been a fool not to take the deal" stated Mr. Lieu. "I'm able to add headcount with additional voice lines, without any increase in expense or degradation in high-speed Internet performance."

"When we moved into our new location here in Los Angeles" commented John Baker, a small business owner in San Diego, California, "we feared having to sign up for commercial telephone and internet service. Until about a year ago, the services being offered to us were TDM, which doesn't come cheap. Thankfully our Telarus commercial telecom broker recommended that we give TelePacific a try, and we did. One year later, we've never had an erroneous bill, our phone and data are all on one single dynamic T1, and we can focus on what we do best - brokering mortgages."

Once a forgotten segment of the business telecommunication landscape, small to medium size businesses are finally being serviced with products (like the dynamic integrated T1 line) at prices they can afford. Gone are the days when the Bells can shove TDM services down the collective throats of SMB's at prices that resemble a mortgage rather than a telephone service. The recent progress made by CLECs leaves us thinking in hypotheticals. "What if the Clinton administration wouldn't have passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, requiring RBOCs to lease their lines at reduces rates to the CLECs?" "Will the FCC continue to enforce this law, or will it be overturned by the powerful AT&T and Verizon lobbyists?" It is impossible to know either way, but for the time being we can just be grateful that the industry has evolved to the point were small businesses can actually benefit from telecommunications at an affordable rate.