The first choice for business private line and Internet connections is now fiber optic bandwidth. Fiber provides a nearly limitless pipe with low latency, packet loss and jitter. Prices are better than ever… as long as you don’t get a giant bill for construction costs.
Why Fiber Has Construction Costs At AllCompanies that have depended on T1 lines, Ethernet over Copper or business cable can be stunned when they receive a quote that includes thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in build costs to bring in a fiber line. Twisted pair copper lines rarely have such a charge because the telephone companies routinely install telco wire bundles to every business when the building is first built.
Fiber should have the same status, but we’re not quite there yet to the same extent. Unlike copper, fiber is often installed long after the building is constructed as a retrofit. That can mean running fiber bundles overhead on poles or tunneling under roads and sidewalks. It gets pricey. If the nearest fiber point of presence is miles way, it gets really pricey.
By the way, business cable can suffer the same fate. If the cable doesn’t run right up to your building, you can get dinged for one-time construction fees. These tend to be a lot less than fiber, although if the cable is miles away the bill can be eye-popping.
When YOU Don’t Have to Pay for Construction
Don’t assume that if you’ve never had fiber before, you’ll have a huge construction bill. There are many cases where the bill is zero. Why? Because the construction cost may have already been paid or even waived.
What you want to look for is a fiber-lit building. That’s a facility where one or more fiber service providers has already brought in a fiber bundle and termination equipment to make it operational. Lit means that the fiber has an active laser light shining through it and is capable of carrying traffic.
Fiber buildings were once rare, but now they are very common. As business bandwidth requirements increased, more and more competitive carriers established fiber optic networks and began competing to light buildings. Often the first provider to establish services gets all the business and makes that building unattractive to competitors.
Near Net vs On Net
The best situation is to have your building lit or on-net with a fiber company. The next best thing is to be near-net. That means a building next door or close by is lit and providing service. This is important because running a line from one building to another is relatively inexpensive. Your construction costs will be low or perhaps even waived if the carrier wants to be the provider for your building. If you have other tenants in the building, you can encourage this by all requesting service.
Other Options
If fiber really does turn out to be unaffordable, you aren't necessarily out of luck. In metropolitan areas, wireless microwave companies can give you fiber speeds without the wires. All you'll need is a small antenna on the building. Ethernet over Copper can deliver speeds as high as 30 to 50 Mbps over multiple twisted pair wires that are likely already installed. The available speed depends on how far from the telco office you are. Business Cable might also work. The newest DOCSIS standards offer hundreds of Mbps up to Gigabit speeds on a shared bandwidth basis.
How Do You Get The Best Connection Deal?
Ideally, you want to get quotes from many service providers, not just the phone company or the one fiber company that advertises locally. You are likely unaware of all the potential service providers. However, a bandwidth broker, such as Telarus, Inc, has contractual arrangements with dozens of providers nationwide and can get you a suite of competitive quotes. It takes only a few minutes of your time. Simply request a fiber optic service quote through the online form or call toll free: 888-848-8749. A bandwidth service consultant will gather quotes and help you chose the most appropriate service for your business.
