Ocx Circuit Pricing: Oc3, Oc12, Oc24, Oc48, Oc96 & Oc192 Line Costs Determined by Location

How much do OC3, OC12, OC24, OC48, OC96 & OC192 circuits cost and what components determine these costs? This is a tough question. One of the things that is required for OC-x level of bandwidth is a FIBER connection, since those levels of bandwidth cannot be maintained on copper. (Whereas copper is more than adequate and can meet the carrier's SLA (Service Level Agreement) for anything from a T1 up to and including a full DS3).

In most cases for T1 thru DS3, it is the LEC's (local exchange carrier) choice. You see, the LEC is responsible to the carrier chosen by the customer to provide connectivity for the "last mile" to the customer's location. If the LEC has fiber in the ground already, they can use fiber, or they can use copper. Nobody really cares since performance can be guaranteed for T1 thru DS3 on either copper or fiber, within single-digit milliseconds.

But with OC-x circuits, it requires fiber. The two pricing components for OCx circuits are the PORT charge and the LOOP charge. The PORT charge is what the specific carrier has negotiated with the LEC for that location for a particular level of bandwidth from their CO (Central Office). The LOOP component is a function of distance in miles from the carrier's POP (Point Of Presence) to the installation location, although that is usually a pretty much fixed figure for loop distances up to about 25 miles.

The OC-x pricing is like real estate - it's all about location, location, location. In downtown Chicago for example, I can get a full OC-3 circuit for under $10k per month. Pricing is pretty much a multiple of that, although the customer usually gets a "quantity discount" for larger circuits; i.e., an OC12 is 4 times as much bandwidth as an OC3, but is only slightly less than 4 times the cost. That is NOT a standard figure because again it depends on location, heavily.

I just priced out "generic" figures for a customer who wants *several* OC48 circuits and *several* OC192 circuits. Generically, if it's ON-NET for the carrier and there are no buildout costs to get the fiber to his location, an "average" price would be about $53K, compared to if it's NOT on-net for the carrier and it's a pain to get fiber there, where the cost would be about $126k plus any buildout costs. OC192 is a carrier-grade circuit and even in the best case would be precariously close to a half million per month. Again, heavily location dependent.

Customers needing this kind of bandwidth typically also like to consider collocation, where they get that bandwidth but it's cheaper if they go to a carrier hotel, the carrier's pop, the carrier's data center, etc., because then the LOOP component no longer exists and is replaced by the cross-connect charge and the amount charged for rack space, power, UPS, etc. within the colo center. But sometimes the customer wants this level of bandwidth into their office, which can also be done.

A customer needing this level of bandwidth should also consider Ethernet, which is much better bang for the buck and is much more easily SCALED than a flat OCx circuit ... IF that level of Ethernet is available there.

One more thing - as you get into this level of circuit, you are going to need to be located near a major city, because the LEC typically does not have the facilities in their CO in Podunk Idaho to deliver this level of bandwidth as opposed to almost certainly having it available in downtown Seattle, Chicago, Denver, New York or another major city.

OCx circuit prices are hard to generalize in an article simply because it's all about location, location, location. For example, a business located in downtown Manhattan, price ranges you would quote as "average" would be too high for Manhattan, but would probably be too low for ... say a smaller major city, say Ft Lauderdale or San Jose.