Bandwidth prices: Prices on Atlantic routes continue to fall - Industry Trend or Event - Brief Article

CommunicationsWeek International, May 8, 2000

It is still a divided world, as far as telecoms competition is confirmed, as a quick glance at the graphs above will confirm. In Europe and across the Atlantic, bandwidth prices have dropped steeply over the last year or two.

Could it be that the cost of an international 2-Mbps circuit in this region is now bottoming out?

Probably not. The flattening price curves in this region likely mean nothing more than a pause for breath, according to Band-X projections. New submarine routes across the Atlantic, and new build-outs in continental Europe will see prices continue to dip in due course.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world the first competitive routes are just beginning to open, as can be seen from the precipitous drop in pricing that is currently under way. Though there is a long way to go until prices approach the same levels as those in the Atlantic, Band-X believes that this will be the outcome. Published plans for cable laying activity in the Pacific show the same levels of infrastructure competition that have already re-constructed the market in Europe set to do the same for the Pacific.