What drives business fiber prices in Ohio.
Same speed, same building, different carriers: quotes rarely match. Six factors move the number. Send an address and we quote the carriers that serve it.
Rings Jonathan and the team 24x7.
400+ carriers and platforms, compared.
What moves a fiber quote.
Where Ohio invoices go wrong.
More: compare fiber quotes · why quotes differ · data center connectivity · SLAs explained
ZIP tools lie; buildings don’t
Marketing footprints show where a carrier sells. They do not prove fiber is in your entrance, riser, and suite.
Neighbor buildings on the same street can return different build requirements and prices. Suite path, landlord access, and who already lit the MPOE matter more than a green checkmark on a ZIP tool. Ask for building-level lit status in writing.
On-net vs dig
A carrier already lit in the building prices and installs differently than a carrier that must construct, permit, or extend to your suite.
On-net / lit
Fiber already serves the building. Install intervals and MRC usually look better, still confirm suite path and handoff.
Near-net / dig
“Fiber 50 feet away” can still mean permitting, laterals, riser work, and landlord coordination. Map distance is not a free lateral.
Off-net / special construction
Longer intervals, higher NRCs, more slip risk. Model all-in cost and rollback before you fall in love with a headline Mbps price.
Same Mbps is not the same product
| Field to normalize | Why it changes the “same gig” |
|---|---|
| Speed both ways | Symmetric DIA vs asymmetric shared products |
| Product type | Dedicated vs shared cable/fiber economics |
| Term length | 36-month promo vs month-to-month retail |
| SLA / credits | Uptime language and how credits actually pay |
| Install / NRC / construction | Often dwarfs a cheap MRC in year one |
| IPs / handoff | Ethernet handoff, IP blocks, router responsibility |
| Notice / auto-renew | The cheap quote’s second term can be the expensive one |
Wide price spread at one address
Ask the carriers that can serve one building for the same 1 Gbps and the monthly prices rarely match. The carrier already lit in the building usually prices like it. A carrier that has to build prices like that too. You see the real numbers.
We do not publish a price table, because it goes stale and says little about your building. See what drives the price for the factors. Your Compete pack names the carriers that fit and what they quoted.
How Buckeye runs Compete
Ask providers that serve the address
Not a ZIP fantasy. Address-level reality across the carriers and platforms that serve it.
Show the spread
Normalize fields. Show cheapest to highest with assumptions visible.
Best-three calls
You hear the strongest options. Jonathan recommends a pick and reviews the contract.
- No advisory fee. Residuals from providers.
- Contracts signed in your name.
- Owner-led since 2003, no rotating AE after you pick.
What to ask before you treat two quotes as comparable
Ask whether the building is lit or a build, who pays construction, what the install interval is, whether the product is dedicated or shared, what the SLA credit math actually pays, and how notice works at the end of the promo. If those answers are verbal, get them in writing. If one quote is silent on construction and the other shows a five-figure NRC, you do not yet have a market test, you have two different products wearing the same Mbps label.
Multi-site buyers should also resist rolling one “winner” across every address. The carrier that is cheapest on-net at Plant 1 may be a dig at the warehouse. Compete is address by address with a standard architecture on top, not one logo stamped on fourteen demarcs because the first quote felt good.
What “we ran the market” must mean
A market test is not two friends in the industry and a ZIP tool screenshot. It is a set of quotes for the same address with normalized fields, construction assumptions exposed, and enough carriers to show whether on-net economics exist. Buckeye’s Compete pack is built to be kept: even if you place elsewhere, you leave with the spread and the assumptions. That is intentional. Artifacts beat decks.
Wide spreads at one address are common. That is not a promise your plant will see one. Your address may compress or widen. The method does not change: ask who can deliver, show the options that fit, talk to the best three, pick with eyes open, then Stay so the cheap quote does not auto-renew into an expensive silence.
Finance teams should also model year-one all-in, not only MRC. A low monthly with a heavy NRC and a ninety-day install can lose to a slightly higher on-net MRC that turns up next month. Compete is where that conversation happens with numbers instead of vibes.
When the estate is multi-site, run Compete per address against a shared architecture standard. That is how you avoid painting every demarc with the first carrier who returned a PDF. Link Stay and the renewal calendar so today’s win has an owner tomorrow.
Promo math and the second-year bill
Carriers know buyers anchor on the first MRC. Promo terms, waived install, and “limited time” credits are real, and so is the roll to retail. A Compete pack that ignores notice windows and promo end dates is incomplete. Pair this page with the renewal calendar so the cheap quote has an owner before month thirty-three.
Also separate shared and dedicated products even when both say “fiber” or “gig.” Contention, SLA posture, and peak-hour behavior differ. If finance only compares the Mbps label, IT inherits the outage. Buckeye will say when a shared product is fine for a light office and when a plant needs DIA economics instead.
Construction responsibility belongs in writing: who pays, who permits, who owns delay. “Fiber is close” is a sales sentence. A dated interval and a construction exhibit are a quote. Until you have the second, you do not have a number you can take to a steering committee.
Finally, multi-site standardization is not the enemy of address-level Compete. Standardize architecture and security posture. Price transport where the glass actually is. That is how estates avoid both chaos and monopoly-by-convenience.
What a named-site bake-off is
One street. Suite if it matters. Every viable provider asked at that building. You see the spread. Then you pick.
It is not “give me a national price.” It is not “use who we already have.” It is Compete at the address: same ask, real quotes, side by side.
For why carriers disagree at the same class of building, see Same-building fiber quote spread.
What to put on the compare sheet
Put these on one page for the named address, with real quote lines only:
- Monthly
- Term
- Install / construction (yes/no and what they said)
- Who owns the last mile
- Who you call when it breaks at 6am
If you run more than one site, keep a register of sites so you know which address you are baking off this week: Multi-site telecom management. The register is inventory. The bake-off is Compete at one line on that register.
What people ask first.
Why do prices vary so much for the same speed?
Each carrier faces a different cost to reach your building and prices its product its own way. Some lead with promo rates that roll to retail.
Why is there no price table on this page?
Carriers reprice often and price each building differently, so a table goes stale fast. The only benchmark worth using is current quotes for the same address.
What is the difference between dedicated and shared internet?
Dedicated (DIA) is symmetric, guaranteed bandwidth with an SLA. Business cable is shared and best-effort. We quote both at the address so you can see the tradeoff.
Why did one carrier quote much less than another for the same gig at my building?
Does “fiber available in my ZIP” mean my building is on-net?
Should I always pick the cheapest quote?
What about construction / “fiber is 50 feet away”?
Does using Buckeye change the price?
Can I just reuse last year’s carrier at the new site?
Will a bake-off slow us down?
Does using Buckeye make the quote higher?
What if only one carrier is actually in the building?
Send an address. Get real quotes.
The carriers that fit the building, named, with term and install.
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