Bitstream 4 Connectivity
Welcome to ‘Business Class’ fibre!
Like flying business class, you will get some key benefits
over other the lower classes – Bitstream 4 connectivity offers the best overall
connectivity experience that incorporates all of the technical bells and
whistles that your business may require…. But it may be more than you may be
prepared to pay for.
What is Bitstream 4 Fibre?
Bitstream 4, or premium fibre, is delivered as a ‘point to
point’ fibre service, meaning it is a dedicated single fibre from the network
provider (ie Chorus, Enable etc..) to your office, delivered over a completely
diverse physical network compared to the lower Bitstream 2 and 3 classes.
Bitstream 4 will give you uncontended bandwidth, meaning
that the circuit speed you select will be committed at all times and not
subject to potential network provider congestion (unlike Bitstream 2/3).
Traditionally, Bitstream 4 is targeted specifically towards corporate/enterprise
clientele, or for businesses who simply require guaranteed bandwidth, with
excellent service levels to boot.
In my previous post, I likened Bitstream 3 connectivity to a
road that has a transit lane for business critical applications (such as voice)
that require a specified amount of bandwidth to run smoothly and efficiently.
Bitstream 4 takes things up a gear as your connection will
come with 100% high priority bandwidth, or in roading terms, your road is
completely private, therefore no other external users are allowed to drive on
your road.
That means you will have the best transit experience that
will be free of external congestion, that assures delivery of all of your
business-critical services at all times.
Bitstream 4 supports VLAN tagging, meaning you can run
multiple high priority services over separate barrier lanes on your private road
as well.
You’ll also get priority on-boarding and support from the
network provider, which will help your internet provider to give you up to date
progress on things like install lead times and build progress/issues as they
come to light.
The network provider will also proactively monitor your Bitstream
4 connection where they will contact your internet provider in the event there’s
an issue with your connection that needs urgent attention.
If your internet provider needs to lodge a support request
on your behalf, your request will be pushed to the top of the queue, as you
would expect from a business class service, which leads to faster restoration
of faults/issues relating to your service.
Your internet provider should also ensure that your top end internet
speeds are available at all times too for regular internet usage, which will be
factored into the price you will pay for the service.
Is Bitstream 4 fibre right for my business?
The major barrier to Bitstream 4 uptake for businesses these
days is price, especially with so many options with similar technical specifications
available nowadays for businesses to pick and choose from.
If you are a large corporate entity who needs guaranteed
capacity at all times to successfully run your business operation, then this is
the service you should be using.
Although beware, you can expect to pay upwards of 4 times
the price of Bitstream 2 and 3 variants, subject to the amount of bandwidth and
data caps you will need, and your internet provider needs to ensure you are
getting a premium service for the price you will be paying.
