T1 Internet Service Prices and Rates Quotes in Eastwood

CLECs Gain Ground with SMBs

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 09:36 pm ET

CEDAR HILLS, Utah, Jun. 30 /Patrick Oborn/ -- During the 2000 Internet bubble meltdown, the telecom industry learned the hard way that wild spending on network infrastructure was not the best approach to attracting new business and investment. Over the past 7 years the industry, particularly the CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers) have been focusing on building products that offer more bang for the buck in order to compete with the Bells in their own backyards. One product that has become the flagship offering to small to medium size businesses is the dynamic integrated T1 line, which combines all the usefulness of 24 regular phone lines into a singe T-1 capable of delivering high-speed broadband on the same connection.

The New York area is one place in particular where the analog to digital revolution is gaining traction. One business owner we interviewed about his recent decision to become a digital convert, Peter Anderson, explained that "my biggest hindrance was my ignorance. Had I known that there was a solution that would allow me to increase the number of voice lines, get a full T1 (1.5 MB) of high-speed Internet, all for less than I was paying for my POTS/DSL configuration, I would have made the move a long time ago." Many others like Mr. Anderson are coming to the same conclusion.

The Integrated T1 line has two general flavors; analog and, of course, digital. The term "trunk" is synonymous with an integrated T1 line, representing 24 bundled DS0 (regular 64KB) channels. Digital trunks form the basis technology for dynamic integrated lines, which are capable of transporting digitized versions of voice traffic in addition to regular data packets. This ability of digital trunks to function in the data realm allows it the ability to dynamically allocate traffic according to the application, allowing priority for voice traffic and "re-claiming" that bandwidth for data transfer when the phone call is completed. This ensures that none of the capacity of the T1 line is ever wasted.

Min Lieu owns a small insurance agency in New York. 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."

Recent advances in technology, fostered by competition from growing CLECs, is bringing integrated T1 services to small business everywhere. And the trend doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. CLECs continue to grow their networks, offering more advanced services like metro ethernet, MPLS, and more. As the competitive local exchange carriers continue to compete by introducing new and exciting products at prices most small businesses can afford, they are coming up against increasing resistance from the RBOCs who are forces to lease their own copper lines to these CLECs at reduced rates. This reality has the CLECs rushing to deploy their own networks and fiber routes, but the FCC may ultimately relax the mandate - leaving all of us wondering how long the party is going to last.