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Sprint T1 service is available nationwide through direct connections on its own fiber optic network, and through access lease agreements with all the regional / local carriers. Sprint also has local connections in several smaller markets where Sprint/United is the local telephone company as well. Sprint is a full-service provider of T1 services, both on a local (possibly resale) and long haul basis. Sprint is considered one of the " tier one " T1 carriers in the US. Tier one carriers are considered the old regional Bell operating companies (or what's left after mergers and consolidations) and the inter-exchange carriers. Sprint's T1 offerings vary by business and consumer segment. With the pending merger with Nextel, Sprint will offer an extended array of wireless services, mostly in the business segments. The Sprint T1 line is not going away anytime soon, however, even with the wireless boom continuing. Business is constantly migrating from traditional voice and data networks, to converged IP-based networks. Access T1s to the carrier IP network (provided by Sprint) will continue to be a hot commodity as enterprise networks continue to combine services onto a single platform. For Sprint, adding VPN-based wireless access to the corporate network extends the reach of enterprise networks to the mobile workforce. For more information on T1 services by Sprint, go to Sprint.com. Building vs. Leasing? T1 carriers typically will have a combination of facilities-based services, where they actually own their network infrastructure, and lease-based facilities, where they lease wholesale sections of typically tier one network providers. Leasing among providers of T1s is a commonplace practice, and dates back to 1993 when MCI first challenged AT&T's long distance monopoly. As soon as a carrier like MCI established a small network, a few switches, and the ability to offer diversit y from the incumbent carrier, both customers and incumbent carriers bought service on the new carrier. Even today, it's cheaper for carriers to establish a "lease swap" arrangement to establish some diversity in each market, instead of building their own facilities, both in terms of bandwidth and switching capacity. Here are the websites to the other main providers of T1 services: |
Sprint T1
