On Mon, Nov 03, 2003 at 08:15:11AM -0500, Douglas S. Peeples wrote:
What you describe is a folded ring and is indicative of either a temporary solution or bad network design. As a rule, phone companies and capacity suppliers build very robust systems.
LATA and ILEC boundaries, along with fiscal measures tend to conspire against rural areas. The result is bad network design or a temporary solution that is going to be in place for decades. By example: I can't imagine Taos, New Mexico needing more than an OC-48 to service all of its voice and data needs over the next few years. The ILEC had a reason (and funding) to build fiber to the city -- but who will pickup the tab for the redundant build? The revenue from the services on a single OC-48 won't pay for it...