15.7 Competitive Access Providers

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In some cases, large corporate users have an incentive to move their traffic from a LEC to a competitive access provider (CAP). Users claim that the CAPs offer cheaper and more reliable access service and solve problems faster than the local exchange. Some users are switching to the CAPs solely for diverse routing and disaster recovery, while others are using the carriers for improved responsiveness and cost savings.

Typically, the CAPs set up a dual fiber ring in which the protect path is physically separate from the working path. In the event of service degradation or disruption—such as a cable cut—service is automatically switched to the protect path within a matter of milliseconds, permitting uninterrupted traffic flow.

LECs and CAPs sometimes cooperate in disaster prevention by interconnecting their networks. In broadening the interconnection of their networks, users are provided with more choice for disaster recovery services.

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