Connectivity Articles

In today's fast-paced, digitally driven environment, the demand for reliable and high-performance connectivity continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. In fact, according to a recent report from Cisco, global Internet traffic is expected to reach 1.5 zettabytes per year by 2025, driven by bandwidth-heavy applications like AI, Cloud computing, and real-time data analytics. As organizations lean more heavily on these technologies, managing connectivity costs while ensuring top-notch performance has become a critical priority.

Here are five strategies to help organizations reduce connectivity costs while enhancing efficiency and performance to meet growing needs.

1. Save With Burstable Connectivity

Burstable Ethernet and Burstable Internet offer organizations intermittent access to "burst" with additional bandwidth when needed during peak times without paying for excess capacity when the additional bandwidth is not needed. Burstable connectivity helps ensure you always have the right amount of capacity when you need it, avoiding unnecessary costly overprovisioning.

For example, an organization that has an E-Line providing connectivity from their office to a data center may notice that bandwidth and connectivity fluctuate along with employees' hybrid work schedules, causing connectivity to slow during times of peak usage. Using burstable bandwidth for their E-Lines, they get the bandwidth they need to handle peak utilization while also minimizing costs.

Lightpath’s burstable Ethernet and Internet options are designed to meet your specific needs with flexible plans so that you only pay for what you use, with the option to scale up as needs grow. Simple and transparent billing makes managing burstable connectivity costs straightforward, eliminating the complexity often associated with some scaling bandwidth solutions.

2. Replace Costly MPLS Networks with Modern SD-WAN

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a traditional networking technology that establishes dedicated, high-performance connections between locations. However, traditional MPLS networks can be costly due to dedicated infrastructure, bandwidth limitations, and limited scalability, requiring time-consuming provisioning and installation. Since MPLS is not designed for direct Cloud connectivity, it also requires workarounds like backhauling traffic through a data center.

In contrast, modern SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) such as Lightpath’s LP FlexNet managed SD-WAN solutions are the best choice if you need a cost-effective, scalable, and Cloud-optimized network with simplified network management and flexibility . Integrated features, automation, and security all contribute to cost savings, along with direct access to Cloud applications without backhauling traffic. The scalability of SD-WAN enables faster deployment of new sites and improves operations by eliminating bottlenecks and application performance inconsistencies. Additional savings can be achieved when you use more cost-effective, optimized, and flexible alternative connectivity, such as Lightpath fiber, instead of expensive MPLS circuits.

As a managed service, LP FlexNet SD-WAN lowers initial CAPEX, provides lower, more efficient, and predictable OPEX, and includes management platform updates. Centralized management automates network operations and streamlines troubleshooting, providing observability, control, flexibility, and ease, along with expert custom design, zero-touch onboarding, and excellent ongoing care. It handles monitoring, proactive support, and other functions, reducing the need for costly on-site IT staff so that current staff can spend less time on manual and network management tasks, allowing them to focus on other important strategic initiatives.

3. Incorporate Wireless Internet Backup

Maintaining reliable connectivity is critical as organizations become increasingly dependent on constant, uninterrupted Internet access. During unforeseen outages, such as the result of a severe storm, the ability to quickly switch to a backup connection can be the difference between keeping operations running smoothly or facing costly downtime.

Wireless Internet backup solutions provide a cost-effective, reliable secondary Internet connection that kicks in automatically when your primary Internet service experiences an unexpected outage . This type of backup is essential for ensuring that your business operations continue to function seamlessly, even during disruptions.

Lightpath offers rapid deployment of cost-effective wireless backup solutions designed to keep your business online, minimizing the impact of outages. It can be quickly installed to provide near-instant protection, reducing the downtime that can be associated with manual failover processes.  

Our 24/7 support team ensures that businesses are always aware of the situation, assisting and providing seamless transitions between primary and backup connections during disruption.

4. Choose Managed Services

Managed Services enable organizations to outsource the management and ongoing maintenance of connectivity solutions to a managed service provider (MSP). Some of the benefits that contribute to cost control include decreased CapEx infrastructure costs, increased efficiencies, streamlined operations, needed expertise, improved scalability, and added security. Since MSPs specialize in managing and optimizing solutions, they are positioned to more efficiently handle complex technologies, troubleshoot issues, and ensure smooth operations. These features are all helpful in reducing costs, especially if you have limited internal staff or are lacking staff with needed technical expertise in a particular area. 

MSPs also offer scalability, so you can more easily adapt to changing needs without additional costs or significant disruptions. Proactive monitoring, regular maintenance, updates, and security patches are all handled by the MSP, keeping you up to date and addressing issues before they become critical. By using managed services such as those offered by Lightpath, your existing staff are freed up to focus on your core business activities. 

5. Take Advantage of Dense Fiber Networks

Connectivity providers who have a dense fiber network can offer expedited installations with reduced costs and lower latency compared to a provider who needs to build entirely new infrastructure .

A dense network infrastructure that leverages existing fiber optic networks into multiple areas and commercial buildings not only offers quicker turnups but also delivers high-speed, low-latency connections, often with built-in redundancy, ensuring reliable performance. This is especially important for organizations looking to reduce latency for Cloud connectivity or through short routes to critical data centers.

Lightpath is continually investing in its infrastructure and expanding its network to enable customers to easily tap into the benefits of its dense network infrastructure- often placing fiber where other providers will not or cannot. Our solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with the fiber infrastructure already available at many locations, saving you time and cost along with expert consultants who work with you to determine the most effective configuration for your needs, ensuring optimal network performance and cost savings.

As organizations face growing pressure to manage costs while ensuring high-performance connectivity, partnering with a strategic network partner like Lightpath can be a game-changer. At Lightpath, we are committed to providing connectivity solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of your organization.

Whether you are looking to streamline costs, improve network performance, or future-proof your infrastructure and more, Lightpath is your strategic network partner to help you navigate connectivity challenges to succeed in 2025 and beyond. To learn more, visit Lightpathfiber.com or call 877‑544‑4872.