DrArkaneX wrote:
I was just out and about searching for prices for t1's, FiOS and the like for a client of mine that's looking to move his data center but wants a cost effective bandwidth pipe. Currently he has a T1 circuit from AT&T in Hendersonville. While I understand that mainly you are paying the circuit cost just for having the ability to have a T1 and then you pay for the actual bandwidth on top of the circuit fee. His Monthly bill is $650 for a T1 (1.544mBit up and down). Now, correct me if i'm wrong but 1.544 mBit translates into 170kBps download and upload speeds. This seems slow by today's standards.

Ok, Fast forward, I got a quote on a FiOS line in New Hampshire. The sales rep stated that the bandwidth and circuit costs for a 30mBit up and down would run $233/month with 16 static IP's. Holy shit. Are you for real? Why does Comcast have to be such assholes and dominate the Tennessee area and won't let Verizon or AT&T setup shop here? To me that sounds like a monopoly, and if this is true, Comcast is operating in the state of Tennessee Illegally according to Federal standards. I thought Tennessee was part of the "Union". Ok, now I know that AT&T is not the best thing to roll through here but if AT&T wins their case against Comcast, that means that the door will be wide open for other technologies to roll through here. Just like it used to be (i.e. ISDN). I for one welcome the AT&T lawsuit and hope that they win against Comcast because this will mean that Comcast will have to be more competitive to keep up with a 30mBit pipe to a residential house.

HAHAHA! You should probably do some searching on Memestreams for ATT, monopoly, and telecom. You'll get an eyeful of why the world is so fucked up.

There's a big difference in T1 and something like FiOS or even Comcast broadband. The big difference is over-subscription. All bandwidth is oversubscribed (meaning that they sell more bandwidth than they have capacity to fulfill if everyone pegged their line simultaneously). T1 networks have far lower oversubscription ratios than something like Comcast. Comcast is probably running at 100:1 or worse (I've seen estimates of 500:1). The T1 networks are probably closer to 10:1 up to maybe 50:1 depending on the underlying architecture. Bellsouth was heavily frame relay while most newer networks are switched IP now. What this means is that you'll get sustained transfers that are much closer to your theoretical ceiling than something on Comcast, which frankly struggles to even provide ISDN rates during peak periods (like weekends). Supposedly that's why you pay more. But the other reason is that the infrastructure that supports trunk lines is more expensive on a per port basis than something like Comcast.

Ultimately true competition would help reduce costs. Not necessarily for apples to apples services (T1 vs T1) but between apples and oranges (T1 vs WiMax or T1 vs FTTH). But that topic has been beaten to death on here and everywhere else where people have a clue about telecommunications and economics.

RE: Why are T1 prices so ludicrous?