T1 Internet Service Prices and Rates Quotes in Gulfport

CLECs Gain Ground with SMBs

Thursday October 02, 2008, 09:52 am ET

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 02 /Patrick Oborn/ -- The way business connect to the digital universe is changing. More and more enterprises are discovering the new broadband options made available to them through a series of cost cutting measures by telecommunication providers. With the recent rush to consolidate, more and more features are being crammed into the current service offerings, which continue to fall in price bringing products like integrated T1 service into the price range of the vast majority of small to medium-size businesses.

Mississippi is a place that we found was a hot spot for small business owners making the move over to dynamic T-1 lines. One business owner that we interviewed gave glowing reviews of his move to TelePacific's "OnePac" dynamic product. Keith Gray explained "I used to have a regular integrated T1 with 10 voice lines and 14 data channels. When no one was using the phone in my office, we were limited to just 896 KB of bandwidth. After searching on the Internet for better options, I found that I could reduce my price from $850/month to $500/month, and at the same time have 14 voice lines and 1.5 mbps of broadband. I didn't take long for me to pull the trigger and make the change."

"True convergence means that I can finally have just one phone company, without being at the mercy of Ma Bell" added Steven Lankto of Jersey City. "Having a data pipe that is intelligent enough to know when it needs to become a voice pipe, without any input from me, is genius. I'm glad that the technology is here and in the price range of businesses like mine." Mr. Lankto isn't alone; there is now widespread acceptance of integrated voice and data service in the New York metro area and across most larger U.S. cities.

To illustrate the types of decisions that small business owners are faced with on a daily basis, we interviewed Glenda Probst, small business owner in Los Angeles, California, about her recent move to a dynamic integrated T-1. "I was in a quandary about how to go about expanding the number of voice lines to my business. Before making the move to a dynamic integrated line, I was using POTs lines. After the fifth line, my bill was above $300/month, not including my $100/month DSL connection. Now, I have 12 pure digital voice lines, 1.5 MB of broadband, and I pay under $400 for it. It was a major upgrade in service with a reduction in total price. I only wish I'd learned about this product sooner."

The golden age of telecommunications may be upon us, based upon our research and recent uptick in customer satisfaction. Although the industry has years of bad blood to overcome, recent innovations such as the dynamically configuring T1 line are proof that progress is indeed being made. Hopefully the CLECs can continue to push the boundaries of innovation and economics. The only thing that can keep them from the promise land is the gatekeeper of competition: the Federal Communications Commission, and the huge Bells (AT&T and Verizon - that's you) who make it a point to spend more money lobbying in Washington DC than Exxon Mobile.