T1/DS1 broadband in Tennessee uses two pairs of copper wire for transmission over telephone lines. An ordinary telephone line uses the DS0 transmission protocol, which carries 64 Kbit per second. A T1 line uses the DS1 protocol to combine the equivalent of 24 telephone lines for a total bandwidth of 1.536 Mbit per second.

T1 broadband in Tennessee is usually available to private customers in DS0 fractions. However, a small business will typically use a full T1 line to connect to the Internet and a larger business may use multiple T1 lines bundled together.

There are three primary factors to consider when deciding to use T1/DS1 broadband in Tennessee:

1. Prices for T1 in Tennessee vary in part according to your distance from the carrier’s Point of Presence. The further you are from the carrier’s POP, the more your T1/DS1 line will cost.

2. Major carriers usually own and operate their own networks, generally resulting in the best actual transmission speeds.

3. A channel bank is necessary to separate the DS1 data stream back into the 24 DS0 data packets. This device is relatively expensive to purchase or lease and represents a substantial investment for a small business.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Locate Tennessee T1 providers that sell full T1 service

Use dedicated T1 in Tennessee to provide high-speed Internet access for a group of employees. These services frequently include multiple static IP addresses and email addresses under your domain name.

I recommend: Speakeasy offers T1 service throughout the country. You can check for service availability on Speakeasy's website by providing your location information. Qwest is a Tier 1 provider that offers full T1 lines. You can obtain pricing and availability information on Qwest's website by submitting your telephone number.

Find dedicated Tennessee T1 providers that specialize in business packages

Get T1 access in Tennessee from a provider that can meet your needs now and scale your requirements as your business grows.

I recommend: Cogent Communications offers dedicated T1 and T3 service to its Tier 1 backbone for businesses in more than 100 markets. Corecomm offers dedicated T1 service for businesses of all sizes and guarantees uptime of 99.5 percent.

Check out local provider packages for T1 service in Tennessee

The local provider connects your business to the carrier's POP. This connection is known as the local loop and represents a substantial component of a T1 line's cost.

I recommend: Nashville-based ISDN Net provides fractional and multiple T1 lines up to 6 Mbps for businesses throughout Tennessee. Access America Internet in Oak Ridge offers dedicated business class T1 lines to businesses in Tennessee and Virginia.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Providers of T1 Internet in Tennessee will almost always offer substantially faster access than a DSL line of the same rated speed. T1/DS1 providers rarely oversubscribe their services, meaning that these customers will have access to the full transmission rate of 1.544 Mbps. By contrast, the oversubscription rates for DSL lines routinely exceed 4:1.
• •  T1 access in Tennessee also is available as a channeled circuit to allow voice traffic on a portion of the channels. These voice channels may be plain T1 or Primary Rate Interface channels. Call centers frequently use PRI lines because they also carry signaling data such as Caller ID and Automatic Number Identification data.