Cerro Gordo, North Carolina, Jun. 12 /Jeff Johnson/ -- The digital universe, and the way people connect to it, is changing. Small businesses, in particular, are discovering new high-speed Internet and telecom options that are now squarely within their budgets. Through a myriad of mergers and acquisitions, telecommunication providers have greatly enhanced their integrated T1 products with features that businesses can't live without, all while dropping the price to about half of what they were just two years ago.

To illustrate the types of decisions that small business owners are faced with on a daily basis, we interviewed Glenda Probst, small business owner in Los Angeles, California, about her recent move to a dynamic integrated T-1. "I was in a quandary about how to go about expanding the number of voice lines to my business. Before making the move to a dynamic integrated line, I was using POTs lines. After the fifth line, my bill was above $300/month, not including my $100/month DSL connection. Now, I have 12 pure digital voice lines, 1.5 MB of broadband, and I pay under $400 for it. It was a major upgrade in service with a reduction in total price. I only wish I'd learned about this product sooner."

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.

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.

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.

Ultimately it all comes down to basic economics. Whenever a technology can offer more features for less money that what businesses are currently paying, it's just a matter of time before the flood gates open up with companies wanting to adapt the new standard. According to the Telecommunications Research Institute, headquartered in Miami, Florida, the mass migration to dynamic integrated service offerings is only being held back by a lack of education and/or the ability of carriers to reach their target market. "Most people are leery of advertising and solicitations by phone company salesman." comment Bill Bradley, analyst.

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. 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.

Definition 1. - 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 2. - 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 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 Cerro Gordo 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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