Two Seattle offices four blocks apart can pay very different prices for the same gig of fiber. One pays $90 a month. The other pays $1,400. Same speed. Same downtown street.
The difference is the building. One is lit by a second or third carrier. The other is not. That is almost the whole story.
So before you call anyone, find out who is on-net at your address. That list is your whole negotiating position.
Seattle has one of the densest sets of lit buildings in the country, outside the Bay Area. More tenants have room to push than they know. And more are paying monopoly rates by accident.
Seattle is two markets wearing one name
Most guides treat "Seattle" as one market. It is not.
Seattle city limits, Shoreline, and Burien are Lumen (CenturyLink) territory. The Eastside is different. Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Bothell, Everett, and Bremerton are Ziply (former Frontier) country.
Ziply runs ads about "Seattle" fiber. They mostly mean the Eastside and north. Call them from Ballard or SoDo and you may get nothing.
Inside Seattle proper, the neighborhood matters less than the building. What is in your riser decides your price.
Who serves Seattle businesses, and what each is for
Comcast Business. The cable default almost everywhere. They also sell Ethernet Dedicated Internet in lit buildings. Not for you if you want flat, honest pricing.
Lumen. The incumbent fiber and DIA carrier. Strongest downtown and in South Lake Union. Skip them outside the city core.
Ziply Fiber. Best symmetrical price in the region for small offices. Eastside and north only. Not for you in central Seattle.
Astound / Wave G. Good in Seattle neighborhoods and apartment or office buildings. Spotty coverage. Check first.
Webpass (Google Fiber). Symmetrical gig at a flat price in on-net buildings. One of the quotes that makes Comcast move.
Cogent and Zayo. DIA in downtown towers. Cheap when your building is already on their fiber.
T-Mobile and Verizon 5G. Backup, or a walk-away threat for a small office. Not a primary line for heavy use.
Starlink Business. Last resort. When nothing else reaches you.
What it really costs: month 1, month 13, and month 37
Carriers advertise the promo. They hide month 13.
Comcast Business cable at 300 Mbps runs about $80 to $110 a month after the promo. Their 1.25 Gig runs $200 to $250. DIA is another world: $500 to $900 for 100 Mbps, $1,000 to $2,000 for a gig.
Ziply Business 1 Gig is about $80 to $100 flat. Webpass holds near $65 to $75 for a symmetrical gig, flat, no step up. Cogent in an on-net tower often lands at $500 to $800 for a gig of DIA.
Here is the trap. A Comcast gig promo looks cheap for 12 months, then jumps. Add up the 36-month total and the "cheap" promo loses to a Ziply or Webpass flat rate. The promo is the expensive option until the math says otherwise.
The fees and clauses that change the number
Comcast adds a gateway fee near $20 a month. Static IPs run $20 to $40 by block size. SecurityEdge and other add-ons show up on the order you never asked for.
Lumen adds construction charges and a "cost recovery" line. Early termination hurts on both: Comcast bills about 75 percent of your remaining charges, DIA carriers often bill 100 percent of the rest.
Then there is auto-renewal. Comcast rolls into new 12-month terms unless you give written notice 30 days out. Lumen often wants 60 days, and may flip you to a higher month-to-month rate.
One tax tip. A 6 percent Seattle utility tax belongs on voice, not on internet. Federal law (ITFA) keeps internet access off that tax. See a 6 percent line on a pure-internet bill? Question it.
Where you have room, and where you don't
You have room when a second carrier is already in your riser. You have room with a written quote from Webpass, Cogent, or Ziply. You have room if your lease lets you bring your own carrier. (Check the telecom access clause. Some Seattle landlords have exclusive deals, usually with Comcast.)
You have none in a single-carrier building in Georgetown, Interbay, or the Kent Valley, where the only alternative is a $30,000 build. And none if you are mid-term with 20 months left.
A real win looks like 20 to 40 percent off list on cable. On DIA with a second fiber carrier on-net, 30 to 50 percent.
The exact calls to make, in order
- Ask the property manager for the on-net carrier list and the riser manager. Do not ask the carrier. They say yes to everything.
- Pull your contract. Find the term end date and the notice window. Calendar the notice date 90 days out.
- Get two written quotes from on-net competitors.
- Call the retention line, not the number on your bill. Name the competitor and price. Ask for the promo locked for the full term, the equipment fee waived, and auto-renewal struck or set to month-to-month.
- Get it in a signed amendment. Not an email.
Stop calling carriers first. Start with the building.