Ethernet Transport Pricing in Arizona

Ethernet transport is priced per circuit and per mile, not per site, so these ranges move more than internet pricing does. A short circuit between two lit Phoenix buildings sits at the bottom of them. Phoenix to Tucson is roughly 115 miles on one corridor. Phoenix to Yuma is about 185 miles of desert and sits well above the top. Arizona's advantage is that its two real metros are close together, so a statewide network is a shorter transport problem than the state's size suggests.

What Ethernet services actually are

Ethernet transport is not internet access. It is a private connection between two or more of your own locations, or between your site and a data centre or cloud provider. No public internet is involved unless you add it.

• Point to point Ethernet, sometimes called E-Line. One site to one other site. Simple and predictable.
• Multipoint Ethernet, or E-LAN. Several sites on one virtual switch, so every location can reach every other.
• Ethernet to a data centre or cloud on-ramp, which is how most direct cloud connections are delivered.
• Dark fiber, where you light the strands yourself. Highest cost to start, lowest cost per megabit at scale.

Pricing is driven by distance between the endpoints and by whether both ends are already on the carrier's network. A short metro circuit between two lit buildings is dramatically cheaper than the same bandwidth between two towns.

What moves the price

• Lit building or new build. The single biggest variable everywhere, and caliche makes the gap wider in Arizona than in most states.
• How many carriers can actually reach you. Two credible options in a building move the price more than any negotiating tactic, and in the East Valley three or four is now realistic.
• Which market. Phoenix and Tucson have real competitive pressure. Yuma and Flagstaff have much less, and outside those four there is often none.
• The season. Heat limits crew hours in Valley summers and winter limits them in Flagstaff, and a carrier absorbing that wait may price for it.
• Contract term. Sixty months beats thirty six meaningfully, and carriers absorb far more construction cost on a longer term.
• Whether you need an SLA. Dropping from dedicated to broadband remains the largest single cost reduction available, where the business can tolerate it.

How Ethernet transport compares with internet access

Ethernet transport connects sites privately and is priced per route; it is not a second internet price tier. Decide whether the traffic must stay private before comparing circuit designs.

Compare MPLS and SD-WAN over fiber

Pricing by metro

Metro matters less than the building, but it is not nothing. Dense metro cores have more carriers competing, which is where the real savings come from.

Common questions