T1 Internet Service Prices and Rates Quotes in Placerville

Only the FCC Can Stop CLEC Momentum

Thursday January 26, 2012, 06:31 am ET

DRAPER, Utah, Jan. 26 /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.

Is the era of the analog trunk, or bundle of 24 DS-0 (64 kbps) channels, officially over? Possibly, thanks to the two-for-the-price-of-one features of a dynamic integrated T1, which can function exactly like a pure 1.5 mbps data T1 when no one is one the phone, and allocate required bandwidth for voice traffic when a user initiates a phone call. Likewise, as soon as the client terminates the voice session, the 64 KB is re-assigned back to the digital universe. This switch-hitting capability provides all of the feel and function of a data T1 and voice T1, for a fraction of the price.

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.

Min Lieu owns a small insurance agency in Colorado. 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."

The golden age of telecommunications may be upon us, based upon our research and recent uptick in customer satisfaction. Although the industry has years of bad blood to overcome, recent innovations such as the dynamically configuring T1 line are proof that progress is indeed being made. 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.