How many T1 lines are there in the United States?  1 million? 2 million?

And what is the operating cost for a T1 line for the local telcos (SBC,Verizon)?

According to 2002 data:

"There are over two and a half million T1 lines currently operating in
the United States, and they are growing faster than 15% per year."

http://www.newvisual.com/questions/data/q35.cfm

This question is particularly interesting to me, because I've been
wondering the same thing and have not been able to find out a valid
answer.  Many of our clients at www.t1solutions.com ask us if T1 lines
are going to be made obsolete by the growth of DSL and Cable services.
 It's interesting to us that our statistics continue to show a rise in
the popularity of T1's because they are so reliable and have so many
uses.  We're gathering as much information as we can about each type
of T1 line to add to www.t1line.com, but we are constantly searching
for statistical information as well.

Is this 2.5 millions statistic validated by any of the largest Telecom carriers?