Fractional T3 Line Services - USAGlossary | Site Map | Contact | Home

A T3 (sometimes referred to as a DS3 or E3) is a leased private dedicated line that goes directly from your office to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). A T3 / DS3 connection is equivalent to 28 T1 / DS1 connections and uses digital signals on fiber-optic cable at speeds of 45 million bps (bits per second) or 44.736 megabits per second. Generally this type of dedicated line is for 100+ users and/or high bandwidth applications. T3 / DS3 connections can also be used for point to point access.

As a standard used in the North American and Japanese marketplaces, a T3 can handle 672, 64Kbps voice conversations or one video data channel. The T3 line has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion real-time videos and very large databases over a busy network. Generally a T3 line would be installed as a major networking channel for a large corporation or university with high volume network traffic. Bandwidth for a Fractional T3, up to a full T3, generally run at speeds between 6 Mbps through 45 Mbps. Pricing on a T3 starts around $ 3700.00/mo +/- line & port charges.