T1 Internet Service Prices and Rates Quotes in Erlands Point

Only the FCC Can Stop CLEC Momentum

Wednesday May 20, 2009, 07:04 pm ET

DRAPER, Utah, May. 20 /Patrick Oborn/ -- Is there a resurgence in the popularity of telecommunications providers that compares with the late 1990's? The answer may surprise you. Since the crash of the Internet bubble, struggling telecoms have seen Darwin in action as many companies were forced with the choice of bankruptcy or forced consolidation. However, some companies chose the road less traveled: innovation. By offering customers more for less, many small to medium size business customers are finding that they can upgrade to integrated T1 service for the same cost of five regular phone lines.

"The marriage of lower price points and feature-rich T-1 services have made it so that customers can now get more bang for less buck" observed Kent Stallions, telecom expert at PK Communications. "The good old days of the Bells charging people $50/month for regular POTs lines without them having another alternative are over. With the advent of sub-$450 dynamic integrated T1 service, businesses are able to get up to 1.5 Mbps of Internet connectivity and 24 phone lines all in one package, for less than what they pay now for 5 regular phone lines" Stallions continued.

Given the fact that many companies still to this day have yet to make the change to digital SIP-trunking enabled dynamic T1s, one must ask why the delay? The value proposition that dynamic adds and the economic benefits are there, however, the technology is slow to be adopted by mainstream corporations. One reason for this lag is the bad reputation that telecom companies have built for themselves through the meltdown of the industry from 2000 to 2003, when many companies either went out of business, merged with other larger companies, or just hunkered down and weathered the storm. Now that the industry has made great strides to stabilize by offering better rates, better products, and better customer service, small business owners are gradually starting to listen to the presentations being made by consultants and inside sales agents. With that increase in confidence, and with the growing number of testimonials being offered by happy customers, businesses are becoming less reluctant to make the jump.

Prior to the advent of the "all digital" integrated T-1 in 2005, customers only had one choice when it came to dedicated service: analog trunks (24 line bundles). Not only where analog trunks expensive - the average cost ranging from $800 to $1500 per month depending on the user's geographic proximity to the LECs point of presence - they could not re-allocate unused voice channels to carry data. Digital trunks, on the other hand, can reclaim voice lines not in use and put them to work carrying high-speed data packets. That means users enjoy the full 1.5 Mbps of broadband when they are not on the phone.

Change does not happen quickly in an industry as so heavily regulated as Telecommunications. Recent industry consolidation has provided huge alternatives to the incumbents, who are now under pressure to keep up with new technologies while charging better prices to retain and attract new customer bases. Expect innovation to continue on its upward spiral as the CLECs continue to expand their footprints as well as their customer bases. Barring any funny stuff from the FCC, the CLECs will be here to stay. Sorry Ma Bell.