A T3 line is an especially powerful tool to transport data. The
enormous capacity of a T3 line can be properly understood when it is
compared with a T1 line.
While a T1 line can carry 24 separate
channels thus providing 24 different sets of communication
simultaneously, a T3 line can provide 672 channels! That is to say if
there is one T3 line, 672 people can simultaneously browse the net at a
very high speed.
T carriers do not have devoted channels. That is
to say, no particular channel is attached to a particular telephone
unit. It is basically a clutch of channels. Whenever a particular
channel is used either to transfer data or used as a voice telephone,
this channel is temporarily assigned to that activity. As soon as the
activity is over the assigned channel reverts to the clutch.
Thus
unless 24 people are simultaneously conversing, a user will always find a
free channel. It has been observed that a single T1 line can very
efficiently cater to 100-150 people in an office.
So, with 672
channels available in a single T3 internet connection, you can very
easily realize that over 4000 people can simultaneously access the net
at a very high speed or converse with crystal clear clarity.
T3
channels are almost invariably used by the internet service providers.
With the data traffic it has to handle with the least possible delay and
downtime, a provider has little option other than T3. They use this
medium to remain connected with the internet backbone. At times the
architecture of the backbone itself is made up of T3 connectivity.
The
internet has revolutionized the whole concept of connectivity. With it
has come the truly novel concept of e-commerce. Skeptics had earlier
pooh poohed the concept of e-commerce. Their argument was that a retail
customer will never buy a commodity unless he can physically check it.
But the success of retail portals like Amazon and EBay has stunned them into silence.
With
the whole world becoming their marketplace due to the internet, big
retail giants are now falling over one another to hike their bandwidths
to the level of T3 to take advantage of reaching more customers
simultaneously. This wide coverage and access which T3 connectivity can
provide has provided them with the opportunity of multiplying their
sales many many times over.
Not only the retail giants but capital
goods manufacturers also have grabbed of this opportunity. They are now
able to contact potential buyers all over the world and through video
conferencing are able to demonstrate their products to clients and
purchasers situated thousands of miles away - all in real time!
This
new world of super fast and crystal clear connectivity has boosted the
economies of not only the developed countries but the rest of the world
too.
With breakneck competition raging among the service
providers, the rates of T3 connectivity have also slid down from their
previous forbidding heights. An intelligent comparison of the rates and
schemes offered by the competing service providers and ruthless
bargaining can further reduce the costs of T3 connections.
OC12 is
an even faster connection than OC3. You might be wondering there should
be limit of speed. But if you care to ponder on the extent by which
traffic on the internet has increased, it is not really a surprise that a
faster carrier emerged.
Let us first wade through the technical
details of OC12. Though it might not make much sense to non technical
persons who are more interested in the benefits accruing to them instead
of the nitty gritty of bits and bytes, still it seems a little naïve
and out of sync if we are not in a position to mouth a few capital
letters when everybody who is somebody is doing so all around us.
Let
me tell you one thing. If you find these details completely bewildering
and are unable to memorize anything, don't worry. All those who are
doing so are in the same boat as you are. They are showing off!
In
fact the service providers are also unable to provide you with a
monthly estimate of the usage of an OC12 connection! It is a stark fact,
I am not joking. This is still not used by very many commercial
establishments dealing with brick and mortar economy.
This is
still the near exclusive domain of web hosting companies who are
basically mid size internet service customers. Also some smaller
internet service providers who act as subcontractors of large internet
service providers have opted for this sort of a connection.
They
use this connectivity mainly for wide area network connections. However,
no large internet service provider will use this as an architectural
constituent of the internet backbone.
Anyway, let us brave the technical details.
OC12
connection has a speed which can go up to a maximum of 622.08 Mbit per
second out of which payload (i.e. the actual data transferred) will be
at the rate of 601.344 Mbit per second while the overhead (i.e. repeater
requirement)will be 20.736 Mbit per second.
Well, what does all this mean?
In
simple terms, it means that one OC12 connection is equivalent to 4 OC3
connections. Let us jog our mathematical instincts a bit! It works out
to 400 T1 connections. One T1 connection is equivalent to 24
conventional telephone lines. So, one OC12 connection is equal to 9600
conventional phone lines all working thousands of times faster than our
conventional phones.
Phew! That indeed is one heck of
connectivity! The cost for this is obviously going to be a lot more
expensive than what you are currently paying but much cheaper in the
long run. So, it is natural that other than those involved in the
business of providing connectivity, others have not yet ventured very
deep into this new facility available in the world of telecommunication.
