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The Evolution of Integrated T1 Service
Monday September 01, 2008,
03:18 am ET
DADEVILLE, Missouri, Sep. 01 /Chris McMillen/ --
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.
"What we're seeing here is the Bells holding their prices steady and milking their high
margins on POTS (plain old telephone service) lines for as long as possible. With the
lower prices being offered by CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers) on dynamic
integrated T-carrier services, the Bells are scrambling to keep pace before enterprises
realize they can actually save money by upgrading to bigger and more reliable circuits."
commented Don Rosebush, industry expert.
Integrated T1s comes in two basic configurations: digital and analog trunks, with a trunk
being a 24-line (or channel) bundle. The newer, digital trunks, however, are able to
run both voice and data over the same channels. By assigning priority to the voice
traffic whenever it is present, a dynamic integrated trunk can provide the end-user
with a full 1.5 MBPS of data throughput if no phone calls are in progress. As more
voice lines are required, less data lines are available. Analog trunks are all
pre-assigned to either voice or data traffic, and do not reconfigure in the event
there is no voice traffic.
According to a recent study conducted by PK Communications Telecom Brokers Inc., the average
cost of a POTS (plain old telephone service) line serviced by the Bells (AT&T, Verizon,
and Qwest) have changed very little over the 10 year span from 1996, the year the
Clinton Administration signed into law the Telecommunications Act, to 2006. The real
change in the industry came in the T-carrier class of products, where customers can
get up to 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth and 24 digital phone lines all in one package. Some
CLECs like XO, TelePacific, Nuvox, One Communications, and even Covad are now offering
rates well below the $550/month level, making the change seem like a no-brainer to
thousands of customers.
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.
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.
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