DS3 Price Trends
Like most telecommunications services in Devine, DS3 prices (commonly known as a T3 line) have been falling for the last not so many years. This is due to a number of factors. Competition has been heating up since deregulation in 1996. The number of companies offering service has exploded. With more competition in the marketplace, service providers have to reduce their prices to catch the attention of customers and keep them from going to competitors. Service providers are anxious to keep margins but even more desperate to add customers. This competitive arena has created a buyers market for DS3 lines and pricing is as favorable as it has ever been!
The weak economy and decline of the stock market has also played a part in the fall in DS3 prices. Since the peak of the market in 1999 many companies have gone out of business and no longer need service. This means there's a smaller pie available and there are plenty of telecom providers trying to get their piece of it. Once again, the buyer is in charge and can shop until he or she finds the price that is right for them.
A final reason for the decline in DS3 pricing is the fact that equipment costs and the cost of supplying the bandwidth have dropped. This means that carriers can supply the bandwidth at a lower cost. As bandwidth usage continue to go up as a result of bandwidth hungry applications like video on demand and graphic heavy applications the price of bandwidth will continue to decline. The only factor that seems likely to slow prices from falling much further is the "last mile" or the connection from the users premise to the service providers' POP (Point of Presence), but we'll save this matter for another article. Until then, enjoy those inexpensive DS3 lines and good luck finding a price that's right for you!
