No More T1 or Bonded T1 For Us
When our business (that processes a lot of large medical images) was growing fast, it became evident that we required more bandwidth.Our T1 line just wasnt cutting it any longer. We had no choice but to upgrade to something bigger .
As in charge of IT, I was the one renegotiating our current contract. Our 1 year contract was almost over, so our company was able to look at different options.
The most obvious choice would have been to go from a single t1 to a bonded T1. Nevertheless pretty soon that also would not be sufficient.
Our sales rep with our current carrier (who will remain unnamed here) of course was happy to point me to a bigger and far more costly solution: ds3 bandwidth (T3 line) with a capacity of 45 Mbps. This is surely enough taking our projected growth rate into consideration, it was perhaps even way too much. And monthly cost was in the higher 4 digit figures, something my boss wasnt too happy with of course.
I found a new solution though. A new technology (or at least new to me) which enables carriers to deliver bandwidth via an Ethernet port over POTS lines, Ethernet over Copper. The pricing was super; we were able to get a 10 meg port for less than a bonded t1!
Another significant benefit of Carrier Ethernet is the scalability. We can just add bandwidth by simply ordering more, in small incremental steps, even all the way up to a gigabit Ethernet circuit.
Be sure to shop around with several providers and make sure you are aware of new technologies (or use a telecommunications consultant that is).
