T1 Internet Service Prices and Rates Quotes in Bushkill

Flexible Products, Lower Prices

Monday August 25, 2008, 03:08 pm ET

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 25 /Patrick Oborn/ -- Small businesses all over the country are discovering a whole new universe of broadband access. As the price of commercial-grade telecommunication services continues to drop, more and more enterprises are starting to drop their plain old telephone service lines in favor of all-digital T1 trunks that deliver voice and data over the same connection. These new enhancements were made possible by the increasing pace of consolidation in the telecommunication industry along with the increasing value bigger phone companies can provide.

The irony of the new small business communications revolution is that it took so long to gain traction. The whole idea of reclaiming inactive voice channels for data applications is not new, and was introduced by many CLEC operators over five years ago. So why did it take so long for SMB's to adopt the technology and make the change? One might argue that the Internet bubble burst in 2000 shook many people's confidence in telecommunications, one of the hardest hit industries. With so many telecoms going out of business, or merging with other small players just to stay solvent, many customers took the "wait and see" approach before making the decision to entrust their communications with a company not associated with Ma Bell. Now that economic Darwinism has taken hold, the remaining companies are attracting new customers who see the benefits of the new technology without the downside risk of loosing service or not being able to get through to customer service in the pinch.

One might think that, given the cost - benefit analysis of the integrated T1 value proposition, more businesses would be changing over to the new platform. However, the rate of adaptation is rather slow. Rob Butler, head of the Telecommunications Research Institute, thinks that "phone companies have a problem with trust amongst their user base. For many years, customers have dealt with increasing rates, long hold times, and frustration in general. Now, it appears, the ice is finally starting to melt and customers are opening themselves up to new technology.

The Pennsylvania 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.

Looking in the crystal ball of the future, it is clear that new an innovated services being offered by the few super-CLECs remaining will drive innovation higher and prices lower. New technology is being pressed to the forefront by lower prices that the mainstream of small businesses everywhere can comfortably afford. The only thing that can get in the way of future progress is the law. You know, the one that requires the RBOCs to lease their local loops to CLECs at a reduced rate so that the customer can get a dedicated connection between their office and the CLECs' network. If the FCC decided to lift this requirement, this whole deck of cards could come down in a hurry, and when it does, you can kiss dynamic integrated T1 service for under $500 good bye!