Dedicated internet access, or DIA, gives you the same speed up and down with a guaranteed service level. It is the right product for businesses with multiple locations, healthcare offices, and anyone whose work stops when the connection drops. The price you pay depends almost entirely on how many carriers can reach your building.
Most businesses get one quote and assume that is the market. It is not. The difference between a competitive building in Chicago and a single-provider office in Charlotte can be $600 to $800 a month on a 1 Gbps circuit. Getting a second quote is the single most effective thing you can do before signing a DIA contract.
What drives the price gap
Carrier density is the primary driver. In a tier-1 market, five or six carriers may have fiber in your building already. Each of them wants your contract. In a tier-2 city, two carriers might reach your office, and one of them may be the only realistic option due to building access rights.
Building type also matters. A full office building downtown gets very different pricing than a standalone warehouse or a strip mall. Carriers spread their build costs across more customers in dense buildings. That shows up in the quote.
Contract length moves the price 15 to 20 percent. A five-year term will come in well below month to month. The question is whether you want that lock-in.
Who to call for DIA quotes
In tier-1 markets, start with the full range: AT&T Business, Comcast Business, Verizon Business, and Lumen Business all have strong DIA products in major cities. For buildings in financial districts or large campuses, Crown Castle Fiber and Lightpath can often undercut the incumbents.
In tier-2 markets, check Frontier Business and Brightspeed Business alongside the national carriers. Regional carriers often need the contract win more than the nationals do, which gives you slightly more room to negotiate.
1 Gbps DIA price range by market (2026)
| Market | Tier | Monthly range |
|---|---|---|
| New York | Tier 1 | $450–$1,100 |
| Los Angeles | Tier 1 | $400–$950 |
| Chicago | Tier 1 | $380–$900 |
| Dallas | Tier 1 | $350–$850 |
| Miami | Tier 1 | $420–$1,000 |
| Atlanta | Tier 1 | $360––$880 |
| Denver | Tier 2 | $550–$1,300 |
| Minneapolis | Tier 2 | $580–$1,350 |
| Charlotte | Tier 2 | $600–$1,400 |
Ranges reflect competitive multi-carrier buildings. Single-provider locations will be at or above the top of each range.
What a DIA contract should include
Speed and price are table stakes. The items most buyers miss are the ones that determine whether the contract is actually worth the rate:
- SLA uptime commitment. 99.99% is the standard for business DIA. Some carriers quote 99.9%, which allows nearly 9 hours of downtime per year. That gap matters.
- Mean time to repair (MTTR). Ask for 4 hours or less with a documented escalation path.
- IP addresses included. Most DIA contracts include a /29 block (5 usable IPs). If you need more, get it in the base rate, not as an add-on.
- Early termination cost. Standard is prorated remaining MRC. Some carriers add the original install cost back in. Ask before you sign.
The benchmark test
If you are currently on a DIA contract, the fastest check is to compare your per-Mbps monthly cost to the market. At 1 Gbps in a competitive market, the market rate in 2026 is roughly $0.35 to $0.90 per Mbps per month. If you are paying above $1.00/Mbps, you are almost certainly above market. Especially if your contract is more than two years old.
See how your DIA rate compares
Upload your current bill. We will calculate your per-Mbps cost and compare it to what the market charges in your metro for the same speed and contract length.
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Dig deeper
- → AT&T Business DIA guide — pricing tiers, contract terms, and negotiation angles
- → Lumen Business guide — national DIA footprint and enterprise pricing
- → Crown Castle Fiber guide — competitive DIA in dense urban markets
- → Business internet pricing by city — full market benchmark data
- → How to negotiate your contract — exact scripts for DIA renewal