Speedy Gambling

A few months ago our company (that processes a lot of large medical images) was growing fast, it became obvious that we needed additional bandwidth.Our T1 line just wasnt cutting it any longer. We had to upgrade to something bigger and more expensive.

Since I am the IT guy, I got the assignment of renegotiating our existing contract. Luckily our 3 year term was almost over, so I was in the position to look at different options.

The most apparent solution was to go from a single t1 to a bonded T1. However with our current growth rate, it would not take long before that also would not be adequate.

My sales rep at this bandwidth provider (who will remain unnamed here) of course was glad to point me to a bigger and far more expensive solution: ds3 bandwidth (T3 line) which has a capacity of 45 megabits per second. Obviously that would be bandwidth enough taking our envisioned growth rate into consideration, it was perhaps even way too much. And the cost per month was in the higher 4 digit figures.

I found a new solution though. A new technology (or at least new to me) that can deliver bandwidth via an Ethernet port over POTS lines, also called Ethernet over Copper. The pricing was excellent; we were able to get a 10 meg port for less than a 3mb bonded t1!

Another major benefit of 10 mb ethernet service is the scalability. It is possible to add bandwidth by simply ordering more, in small incremental steps of a few megabit, even all the way up to a gigabit Ethernet circuit.

So when upgrading any services, be sure to shop around with several carriers and make sure you are aware of new technologies (or use a telecommunications consultant that is).