New York should be the cheapest business internet market in the country. It has more carriers, more fiber routes, and more buildings lit than anywhere else. But that is not how it works.
What you pay depends on your building, your floor, and which carriers already have gear in the basement. Two offices on the same block can get quotes that differ by $600 a month for the same 500 Mbps circuit.
Here is who competes, and what real pricing looks like.
The carriers you will actually see
Five names show up on almost every NYC quote:
Verizon Business is the incumbent. Fios where it is lit, Ethernet over Copper in older buildings, and full fiber in most Class A towers. Prices are steady. Negotiation room is thin unless you are buying more than one circuit.
Optimum Business covers most of the outer boroughs and parts of the Bronx. Cable speeds up to 1 Gbps down, but upload is the catch. If your team runs video calls all day, cable upload will hurt.
Lightpath is the fiber arm that split off from Altice. They target commercial buildings across all five boroughs and into Long Island. Their pricing on 1 Gbps fiber is usually the most aggressive quote you will get, if they are already in your building.
Astound Business (formerly RCN) runs its own fiber in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens. They compete hard on price when they are lit at your address.
Then there are the fiber specialists: Crown Castle, Zayo, Lumen, and Cogent. These carriers do not chase small offices, but if you need 1 Gbps dedicated or 10 Gbps wave service, they belong on your list.
What pricing actually looks like
For a mid-size office in Manhattan, here are the ranges we see on real quotes this year:
- 500 Mbps dedicated fiber: $650 to $1,400 a month
- 1 Gbps dedicated fiber: $900 to $2,100 a month
- 10 Gbps wave in a lit Class A building: around $1,565 a month at the median, with tails at $895 and $4,125 depending on carrier and building
Cable-only quotes (Optimum, Astound coax) run $250 to $600 a month for 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps down, with slow upload. Fine for a retail shop. Not fine for a design studio.
Brooklyn and Queens pricing tracks about 10 to 15 percent below Manhattan for the same speed, mostly because Class A tower economics do not apply.
The building problem
In NYC, the building is the deal. A Lightpath quote in a building where they are already lit might be $900 for 1 Gbps. In the building across the street where they need to trench in, that same quote becomes $4,500 with a 36 month term.
Before you take any quote seriously, ask two questions:
- Is the carrier already lit in this building?
- If not, who pays for construction, and how long does it take?
Construction in NYC can run 90 to 180 days. If your lease is up in six months, that timeline matters.
What to do
Get three quotes. Always. One from the incumbent (Verizon or Optimum, depending on your borough), one from a fiber competitor already in your building, and one from a carrier that would need to build in. The third quote almost never wins, but it tells you what the ceiling looks like.
Then hand all three to someone who reads these contracts every day. The savings are in the fine print. Auto-renewal clauses, MRC escalators, and early termination fees are where NYC carriers make their margin back.
Upload your latest bill and we will tell you what you should be paying, and which carrier in your building can beat it.