T1 Internet Service Prices and Rates Quotes in Beckhamville

Prices Continue to Come Down on Integrated Products

Wednesday July 23, 2008, 06:11 pm ET

DRAPER, Utah, Jul. 23 /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.

At $50 to $75 per month, the average small business telephone customer could expect to pay up to $750 for just 10 regular phone lines, which come with only a standard set of features such as Voicemail, Caller ID, and Three-way calling. From 2000 to 2005, the cost of a dynamic integrated T1 line was well over $800, making it an unattractive option from a pure cost point of view. However, that paradigm has changed with the introduction of sub-$400/month price plans and features that make the old POTs lines look pre-historic.

The question remains, if this new technology is so progressive, why did it take over five years to gain broad appeal to SMB's across the country? One industry analyst from the Telecommunications Research Institute observed that many customers who consume commercial-grade phone service became very untrusting of telecom providers after the Internet bubble burst in 2000 and the MCI bankruptcy proceedings full of allegations of fraud and embezzlement. After all, no customer wants to come to work one day just to find out that their connection to the outside world has been shut down due to financially unstable service providers not being able to run a profitable or ethical business. Now, due to a series of acquisitions and mergers, the "survivors" are offering great products at rates that SMB's can't continue to ignore. The CLEC's and Bells are quickly gaining traction with the very important demographic.

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.

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.