Stonewall, North Carolina, Sep. 17 /Don Romburgh/ -- Is there a resurgence in the popularity of telecommunications providers that compares with the late 1990's? The answer may surprise you. Since the crash of the Internet bubble, struggling telecoms have seen Darwin in action as many companies were forced with the choice of bankruptcy or forced consolidation. However, some companies chose the road less traveled: innovation. By offering customers more for less, many small to medium size business customers are finding that they can upgrade to integrated T1 service for the same cost of five regular phone lines.

To see how customers are reacting to this new product, we interviewed a series of small business owners in North Carolina 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."

"I think the telecom industry in general has turned a corner" opined Jerry Gold of Boston, Massachusetts. "They have finally developed products that are understandable by the industry outsider and, thanks to competition, priced these services in a range that most small businesses can afford. For over 20 years I dreaded dealing with 'the phone company'. But now that I've switched over to One Communications, my integrated T1 is doing everything I need it to, for under $450/month. One actually answers their customer service calls and makes me feel like I'm part of their family. It was a long time coming, but I'm finally able to end the fight with the phone company so I can focus on my sports memorabilia store."

"For years I've played tug-o-war with the phone company who provided voice and data service to my toy manufacturing company" commented Troy Bergfeld of Houston Texas. "They kept trying to sell me services I didn't need, it took them months to finally send me a correct bill, and I wasn't able to recapture bandwidth from my T1 line when nobody was using the phone. Now that has all changed - my Telarus product specialist recommending I give XO Communications a try. Now I use their FLEX T1 product and I pay less and get exactly what I want. I have even add another T1 seamlessly when the time comes for my business to expand."

"The marriage of lower price points and feature-rich T-1 services have made it so that customers can now get more bang for less buck" observed Kent Stallions, telecom expert at PK Communications. "The good old days of the Bells charging people $50/month for regular POTs lines without them having another alternative are over. With the advent of sub-$450 dynamic integrated T1 service, businesses are able to get up to 1.5 Mbps of Internet connectivity and 24 phone lines all in one package, for less than what they pay now for 5 regular phone lines" Stallions continued.

"I am very satisfied with my new XO dynamic T1" added Mike McLoude, a small business owner in Santa Monica, California. "The flexible nature of the system allows me to conduct business with the same efficiency as many of my bigger competitors, for less than what they pay." Mr. McLoude is not alone - many Californians are seeing the technology light and taking the leap of faith away from traditional TDM.

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. Evolution has lead to a better, cheaper alternative to TDM services that the Bells were peddling for decades in a vacuum of competition. Now the industry, lead by the innovation and great business practices of the CLECs, seems to have turned a corner - leaving the incumbents playing catchup. Obviously, the main benefactor of all of this competition is the small to medium size business - a segment of the market that was taken for granted until today.

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 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.

Definition 4. - 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 Stonewall T1 line is in common use today in ISP (Internet Service Provider) connections to the Internet

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