Are telecommunications companies pushing you to replace your outdated T1 line? See this as a positive change! You might be able to upgrade from a 1.5 Mbps T1 line to a 10 Mbps fiber optic service for about the same price. Moreover, fiber optic allows for easy bandwidth increases as your needs grow.
What’s Happening to Traditional Phone Lines?
Bell Labs created T1 lines as the first digital telecommunications service to carry multiple phone calls. Businesses were the initial adopters, using them for PBX phone systems and later for dedicated internet access and private digital lines. The oldest of these lines have been in use for over 50 years. Since then, technology has progressed significantly, notably with fiber optic cables, hybrid fiber coax, and fixed wireless microwave.
Although millions of analog phone lines, T1 and ISDN PRI lines, and DS3 services have served us well for decades, providers are phasing them out in favor of fiber and wireless options. This “sunsetting” involves halting new connections, increasing prices on existing services to cover rising maintenance, and eventually declining contract renewals. Although the physical copper lines and their associated equipment might remain for a while, they are effectively retired.
Widespread copper deterioration is a contributing factor. Replacing corroded wires or faulty connections becomes costly when spare cables are unavailable, requiring new ones to be installed. The situation is made less appealing by businesses migrating to fiber for greater bandwidth and connections to cloud services. Maintaining these outdated services eventually becomes impractical.
Fiber Replaces Copper
Fiber optic service might not have been an option when you first got your T1 or T3 (DS3) line. If it was available, it came with a hefty price tag. Only large organizations with significant needs and even larger budgets could afford OC3, OC12, or OC48 SONET fiber installations. Two key developments have changed the landscape.
Firstly, Ethernet over Fiber (EoF) emerged as an alternative to the telephone-centric SONET. EoF seamlessly connects to Ethernet LANs and scales easily to meet your bandwidth needs. After deregulation, new telecommunications companies entered the market and embraced EoF for their regional and national networks. This increased competition resulted in more affordable options for businesses.
The second game-changer was the evolution of cellular broadband from 2G to 3G, then 4G, and now 5G. Phone companies relied on T1 lines to connect cell towers until 4G LTE became the norm. At that point, even multiple T1 lines couldn’t handle the increased bandwidth demands of faster broadband. Today’s cell towers need fiber optic or point-to-point microwave connections. The widespread fiber installation to support smartphone bandwidth has inadvertently made fiber accessible for other uses beyond metropolitan business districts.
Fiber Now Comparable in Price to Copper
T1 line costs have declined for years but are poised to rise again. With fewer customers and the push to retire the service, your T1 line will likely become more expensive, if you can even keep it. Conversely, fiber optic prices have dropped significantly due to increased implementation and competition. As a result, 10 Mbps fiber optic service is now priced similarly to a single T1 line. Switching to fiber allows you to potentially triple your bandwidth for a lower cost than using two bonded T1 lines for 3 Mbps.
If you’re facing higher T1 costs, service disruptions, or simply want more bandwidth without increasing your budget, get competitive quotes on Ethernet over Fiber bandwidth services available in your area.
