What's causing all this upset in what was once a staid and uncompromising telecommunications industry? Competition, that's what!
The competitive landscape shifted with the breakup of the Bell System in 1984, which allowed other companies to provide telephone service. Competitive long distance service, starting with companies like Sprint & MCI and more recently Opex, PNG, Pioneer, IBNtel, Covista and Total Call International let both businesses and consumers save money on their long distance calls while retaining their local phone service.
Two changes in technology have accelerated the advantages of competitive service providers. First is the introduction of VoIP that uses packet switched digital transmission over the Internet or private IP network instead of analog copper pair connections. The other is private regional and national fiber optic networks that can connect businesses without having to lease last mile connections from the incumbent local telephone companies.
These developments have resulted in a lot more competitors entering the lucrative telephone and Internet service marketplace. They also provide bandwidth in the form of T1 lines, SONET fiber optic services, MPLS networks, SIP trunking and Metro Ethernet. T1 and SONET offerings directly compete with similar telco offerings. SIP trunking, MPLS networks and Metro Ethernet are new on the scene and look to replace the older technologies completely.
All of these competitors, dozens in fact, have given businesses a mind boggling array of service options. They've also fueled the bandwidth war that has cut prices on many once prohibitively expensive telecom services down to levels that small, medium and larger companies can readily afford. It's not uncommon to find that the price of a T1 line or DS3 bandwidth has dropped by half or more since that service was first leased only a few years ago. Other options, such as Ethernet over Copper, can offer higher bandwidths, such as 3, 5, 10 or 45 Mbps at rates per Mbps that are mere fractions of what they would be with traditional line pricing.
This wealth of opportunity has resulted in one major dilemma, however. How can you be sure that you are getting the best rates when you are only familiar with a few of the possible suppliers? The answer to that is a telecom brokerage service that lets you enter a query online at any time and even get instant online quotes for T1 and similar line services. Consultants are available to handle queries for higher bandwidth services and special needs such as connecting multiple locations. All of this comes at no charge to the inquirer.
This rapidly expanding competitive landscape means that you can probably save on all of your voice and data communications needs. There's only one way to find out. Check the latest competitive telecom service prices and see.
