DS3 Price Trends
Like the majority of telecommunications services in Galveston, DS3 prices (commonly known as a T3 line) have been falling for the last not so many years. This is due to numerous factors. Competition has been heating up since deregulation in 1996. The number of carriers 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 keep customers. This competitive arena has created a buyers market for DS3 lines and pricing is as low as it has ever been!
The soft economy and decline of the stock market has also played a part in the drop 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 to be had and there are plenty of telecom providers trying to get their share. Once again, the buyer is in charge and can shop until he or she finds the price that is right for them.
The last reason for the reduction in DS3 pricing is the fact that equipment costs and the cost of supplying the bandwidth have declined. This means that companies can supply the bandwidth at a lower cost. As bandwidth usage continue to increase as a result of bandwidth hungry applications like video on demand and graphic intensive applications the price of bandwidth will continue to go down. The only thing 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 issue for another article. Until then, enjoy those affordable DS3 lines and good luck searching for a price that's right for you!
