W Frankfort, Illinois, Oct. 17 /Dolf Olviederlag/ -- The way business connect to the digital universe is changing. More and more enterprises are discovering the new broadband options made available to them through a series of cost cutting measures by telecommunication providers. With the recent rush to consolidate, more and more features are being crammed into the current service offerings, which continue to fall in price bringing products like integrated T1 service into the price range of the vast majority of small to medium-size businesses.

Illinois is a place that we found was a hot spot for small business owners making the move over to dynamic T-1 lines. One business owner that we interviewed gave glowing reviews of his move to TelePacific's "OnePac" dynamic product. Keith Gray explained "I used to have a regular integrated T1 with 10 voice lines and 14 data channels. When no one was using the phone in my office, we were limited to just 896 KB of bandwidth. After searching on the Internet for better options, I found that I could reduce my price from $850/month to $500/month, and at the same time have 14 voice lines and 1.5 mbps of broadband. I didn't take long for me to pull the trigger and make the change."

Illinois, ordinarily not known for its telecom prowace, has been a hotbed for businesses making the move to dynamic telecom lines. One local business owner - Linda Peterson - who operates a travel agency, recently told us that "I never expected the phone company to come out with anything that would help me lower my costs. On the contrary. Ma Bell has had a history of raising my rates and making my life difficult. When I heard about the XO Flex package (offering 10 dynamic voice lines and 1.5 mbps of high speed Internet) at a price of under $500, I couldn't move over fast enough." Since then Linda reported a $150/month savings in her telecom expenses.

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.

"Even though we have been witnessing the re-consolidation of AT&T, we will never go back to the dark ages of telecom where customers were stuck with bad customer service and high prices" commented Troy Karlson, telecom analyst for e-STAR. "The competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), all whom own their own networks and compete directly with the Bells, have created products such as dynamic T1 service that enables its customers to connect to the Internet at 1.5 MBPS and have up to 24 regular voice lines, packed with a feature-rich suite of add-ons, all for under what it costs to have 6 regular phone lines from Qwest/AT&T/Verizon.

To see how customers are reacting to this new product, we interviewed a series of small business owners in Illinois who are currently using the service. One such individual shared with us his enthusiasm for the enhanced capabilities dynamic service offers. "When I was first contacted about the dynamic integrated T1, I was deeply skeptical of what I was hearing. Over the course of my brief dealings with telephone companies, all I got was less service with more cost. Now I am happy to say that I am getting more for less, which makes for one very happy customer."

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. CLECs are continuing to find new and loyal customers in the small business space, but for how long will this trend continue? Will the RBOCs ever be able to give them a fight on a level playing field? Only the FCC knows that answer to that question - all we can do is be thankful for the past 12 years of progress and hope we never return to the pre-1996 era of Telecommunications.

Definition 1. - A high-speed digital connection capable of transmitting data at a rate of approximately 1.5 million bits per second. A T1 line is typically used by small and medium-sized companies with heavy network traffic. It is large enough to send and receive very large text files, graphics, sounds, and databases instantaneously, and is the fastest speed commonly used to connect networks to the Internet. Sometimes referred to as a leased line, a T1 is basically too large and too expensive for individual home use.

Definition 2. - A type of high speed Internet connection that provides a great deal of bandwidth. Many businesses lease T1 lines to connect to the Internet, but because they are expensive and offer more bandwidth than most small businesses and homes need, they are not realistic solutions for small and low-demand Internet users.

Definition 3. - The T-carrier system, introduced by the Bell system in the US in the 1960's, was the first successful system that supported digitalised voice transmission. The original transmission rate (1.544 Mbps) in the W Frankfort T1 line is in common use today in ISP (Internet Service Provider) connections to the Internet

Definition 4. - The T1 (or T-1) carrier is the most commonly used digital line in the United States, Canada, and Japan. In these countries, it carries 24 pulse code modulation (PCM) signals using time-division multiplexing (TDM) at an overall rate of 1.544 million bits per second (Mbps). T1 lines use copper wire and span distances within and between major metropolitan areas. A T1 Outstate System has been developed for longer distances between cities.

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