Ethernet Transport Pricing in Montana

Ethernet transport is priced per circuit and per mile, not per site, so these ranges move more than internet pricing does, and in Montana they move further than in most states. A short circuit between two lit Billings buildings sits at the bottom of these ranges. Billings to Missoula is roughly 340 miles on one corridor, and it sits well above the top of them. If a route has to leave the corridor, the mileage stops being the main driver.

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 in Montana the distances make the gap between the two wider than average.
• The season. A build that cannot start until the ground thaws is not a cheaper build, but it is a longer one, and a carrier absorbing that wait may price for it.
• How many carriers can actually reach you. Two credible options in a building move the price more than any negotiating tactic, and in most of Montana getting to two is the achievement.
• Which metro. Billings and Bozeman have real competitive pressure. Great Falls has less, and outside the four metros there is often none.
• Contract term. Sixty months beats thirty six meaningfully, and it matters more in a thin market, because carriers need more certainty to justify a build here.
• 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