Once established and the equipment installed, the digital microwave path is relatively cost-free to use. ISDN and T-1 lines are very costly C thousands of dollars per month in rental. The second advantage to this new communications connection is increased bandwidth. At 43 megabits, the digital microwave is equivalent to 24 T-1 lines. The third advantage is in the quality of video available between the campuses.
Telephone lines permit only compressed video.
Some people find compressed video difficult to watch, especially at lower compression rates. The increased bandwidth of the digital microwave link permits two channels of full motion video. With the extra bandwidth, the two campuses can exchange computer data very cleanly and quickly, and simultaneously transmit 2 channels of full motion video. This allows the sharing of classes with 2-way audio and video, or the delivery of videoconference down links in tandem. Establishing the digital microwave path was tricky.