Atlanta is a tale of two cities when it comes to business internet. Inside the perimeter, you have real fiber competition. Get a mile past 285 and your options thin out fast.
This matters for your bill. Fiber competition drives prices down. When only one carrier serves your building, you pay what they say you pay.
Here is what businesses in Atlanta are actually paying, and who to call depending on where you sit.
The core: Midtown, Downtown, Buckhead
If your office is in the core, you have at least three real fiber options. Usually four.
AT&T Business is lit in most Class A buildings. Comcast Business has run fiber into a lot of the same buildings over the last five years. Crown Castle Fiber covers most of the Midtown and Downtown core with dark and lit options. Lumen is in the older telecom hotels.
What you should be paying for 1 Gig symmetric DIA in the core: $650 to $950 a month. We have a client on Peachtree paying $725 for a Gig with a 3 year term. That is the number to beat.
For 10 Gig, the core Atlanta market runs $1,400 to $2,200. We saw one quote at $1,285 in a West Midtown building last quarter. That was Crown Castle undercutting AT&T to win the floor.
The suburbs: Alpharetta, Marietta, Sandy Springs
Here is where it gets uneven.
Alpharetta along the GA-400 corridor is actually well built. Comcast Business is strong, AT&T fiber reaches most of the office parks, and a Gig runs $700 to $1,100. Not bad.
Sandy Springs is mixed. The Perimeter Center towers have fiber. The one-story office parks half a mile away often do not. Same zip code, wildly different pricing.
Marietta and Kennesaw are the tough ones. Outside the main commercial strips, you are often looking at a single fiber option, or cable only. Cable business internet in these areas runs $200 to $400 for 300 to 500 Mbps. The upload speed is slow.
If you need real symmetric speed in these markets and only one carrier serves you, expect to pay $1,200 to $1,600 for a Gig. Sometimes more.
The construction question
A lot of Atlanta buildings say "fiber available" and then quote you $15,000 in construction to actually light your suite. That is not a real quote. That is a polite no.
Two things to know. First, always ask for the construction number up front. Do not let a carrier waste three weeks on a survey before telling you. Second, if construction is quoted, get a second carrier to quote the same address. Sometimes one carrier has fiber to the MPOE and the other does not, and you would never know without asking both.
What Atlanta businesses overpay for
Three patterns we see on almost every Atlanta bill we review.
Static IPs you do not use. Carriers sell blocks of 5 or 13 when you need 2. The extra IPs cost $20 to $60 a month.
Managed router fees. AT&T and Comcast both charge $40 to $75 a month to rent you a router. Buy your own. It pays for itself in six months.
Old contract rates. If you signed a Gig deal in 2022 at $1,200, the same Gig today in the same building is $750. The carrier will not call you. You have to call them.
What to do
If you are in the Atlanta core, get three quotes before you sign anything. AT&T, Comcast, and Crown Castle. The third quote is what gives you leverage on the first two.
If you are in the suburbs, start with your building manager. Ask which carriers have already run fiber into the building. That saves you weeks.
And pull your current bill. If it is more than a year old, it is probably wrong.