The top company in our survey was Telepacific. The only downside to this company is the fact that they only offer service in California and Las Vegas. Telepacific received top marks in all four or our categories and is what we recommend most to customers in California. The second carrier in our list was USLEC. Like our fist pick USLEC is a regional player offering services in the south and on the eastern seaboard. USLEC was founded and is run by engineers. These people have a passion for getting it right and keeping their customers happy. Number three on our list is New Edge Networks. New Edge is a national player found predominantly in metro areas. New Edge is large enough to be a strong player but still small enough to treat customers like a small company.

Our number four position goes to Netifice, formerly Epoch. Again, a small Tier 1 player but excellent service nationwide. Number five position goesto ACC Business. Available everywhere in the continental US, ACC used the ATT network exclusively and provides a high level of service. Positions six through ten when in the following order: Telarus, Sprint, Xspedius, PNG, and Megapath. When looking for a reliable provider you should be comfortable with any of these. Make sure you speak to your broker about the strengths and weaknesses of each carrier. While our rankings were based evenly on the four criteria mentioned at the beginning of the article you may decide that some criteria are more important to you than others. Good luck in your search.

T1 bandwidth pricing had reduces as companies have gone out of business and the large number of telecommunications companies are fighting for a place in a smaller market. While many service providers did have room to lose margin, many have come dangerously close to the edge of selling circuits at a loss and many have gone beyond this point. It seems that in the race to the bottom many providers failed to learn the lesson that selling at a loss does not create a long lasting and healthy company no matter how many circuits or widgets you sell. Many companies selling at a loss have already been in bankruptcy and look like they will repeat this exercise as they did not learn from their first go around. So, solvency of the T1 bandwidth provider should be a consideration when looking at great bargains.

Another consideration in bargain shopping for T1 service is the fact that all T1's are not created equal. Many providers are convinced (and rightly so) that customers are focused on price and are not concerned with quality of service. Many providers are now oversubscribing T1 service connections as though they were DSL connections. This means you may not get the bandwidth you thought you would get. Make sure when you look for that bargain price you also reveiw the SLA (Service Level Agreement) and make sure the contract protects you and guarantees you will get the bandwidth to which they committed. Remember, when bargain hunting for T1 service you'll most likely get what you pay for.