At 2/12/2011 09:35 AM, MikeH wrote:
Then they're buying from a CLEC. There is no technical way of doing so without a CLEC, ILEC, or cellular carrier involved for inbound service. Outbound VoIP requires an IXC.
Correct. In order to interconnect with the rest of the PSTN, you need to be a certificated carrier, and that means ILEC, CLEC, or CMRS (wireless licensee). Or IXC, which isn't certificated but which has legal obligations. All of the VoIP resellers out there have CLECs in the loop, very often Level 3 or Paetec, who have large footprints, but also local ones in some places.
The term "T1" is confusing. It technically refers to a long-obsolete DS1-speed carrier system, but is used to refer to anything that runs at the DS1 rate. For "broadband" data, that's slow by today's standards, though for real business applications (no video), it tends to be pretty good. So a lot of businesses use T1s, which a CLEC can often get at a cost-based rate, vs. the outrageous Special Access tariff price.
But a DS1 circuit (isochronous, channelized) is how the whole PSTN does its interconnection. So a VoIP provider might buy PRIs from a CLEC. A PRI is a DS1 circuit with (typically) 23 bearer channels (64000 bps, used for voice calls though possibly circuit-switched data too) and one D channel (signaling). The CLEC, in turn, interconnects with other carriers using DS1-rate bearer links and signaling over the separate SS7 network.
A CLEC certificate can often be handy for an ISP... -- Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein "at" ionary.com ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/ +1 617 795 2701
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