These upstart carriers that challenge the regional Bell operating companies look to the latest technologies to build networks.
Cost is the main reason.
The new equipment also supports services that traditional carriers just can't offer, or lets the CLECs offer services at prices RBOCs can't beat. Click here for diagram. Rather than spend the millions it takes to buy a traditional local telephone switch, for instance, CLECs buy switches that handle data and voice at a tenth of the cost. And rather than settle on equipment that will lock them into the same technology for years to come, they adopt gear that is flexible enough to complement the next generation of switches when they come along. One of the company's key investments is a lab in which the latest technology is put through its paces to determine whether it is ready for deployment in a commercial network.