Charlotte is one of the better fiber markets in the southeast. AT&T Business Fiber covers a large share of commercial blocks. Spectrum Business has the cable footprint and is rolling out fiber in select areas. Google Fiber expanded into the metro and is now on many blocks in midtown and the south end. T-Mobile fixed wireless covers most of the metro.
The pricing problem in Charlotte is the same one that hits most growing southeast metros. Many businesses signed long-term Spectrum contracts before the fiber options arrived and have not renegotiated since.
Charlotte's commercial map
Charlotte's commercial demand sits in three districts. Uptown is the central business district and holds the legal, financial, and banking core. South End, just south of Uptown, is the metro's fastest-growing mixed-use commercial district with significant Class A office and tech tenancy. Ballantyne, in the south suburbs, is the suburban office park and corporate campus cluster. Bank of America, headquartered in Uptown, and Atrium Health are two of the largest commercial accounts in the metro and drive much of the enterprise telecom demand.
In May 2023, FiberLight expanded into Charlotte with a new Charlotte-to-Atlanta route and a new point of presence at Flexential's Charlotte data center, delivering 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps Ethernet services. That kind of high-capacity wholesale capacity shows up downstream as more competitive retail pricing for carrier-neutral buildings near Class A office space. Properties inside Charlotte's Center City municipal service districts also carry special assessments billed alongside Mecklenburg County property tax.
What you should be paying
These are dedicated internet ranges from current carrier wholesale data, marked up to typical retail.
Charlotte dedicated internet, typical retail (mid 50%)
Monthly recurring charge, dedicated internet access (DIA). Numbers are derived from current carrier wholesale quotes.
| Speed | Typical retail (mid 50%) | Sample size |
|---|---|---|
| 500 Mbps | $955 – $1,160/mo | n = 1 |
| 10 Gbps | $2,190 – $2,660/mo | n = 1 |
If your bill sits above the high end of the band, you are likely overpaying.
Analyze My Bill FreeFor AT&T Business Fiber at 1 Gbps, expect $150 to $230 a month for a single office. For Spectrum coax at 600 Mbps, the fair price is $150 to $230. For Google Fiber Business at 1 Gbps, the published rate is $100 a month, which is one of the cheapest published business rates in the country.
Carriers worth quoting in Charlotte
Six carriers cover most addresses in the metro.
- AT&T Business Fiber. Strong commercial fiber footprint across the metro.
- Spectrum Business. Coax everywhere, fiber in select buildings.
- Google Fiber Business. Aggressive published rates. Strong in midtown, south end, and parts of north Charlotte.
- Brightspeed Business. Fiber overbuilder rebuilt from former Lumen consumer footprint.
- T-Mobile Business Internet. $85 a month for 200 to 300 Mbps. Useful benchmark.
- Verizon 5G Business Internet. $99 a month at 400 Mbps.
If you have not had three of these on a quote sheet, you have not run a real comparison.
What to do this week
- Pull your most recent invoice. Find the contract end date and the side fees.
- Get one quote from Google Fiber Business if they cover your address. Their published rate is often the floor on what AT&T or Spectrum will match.
- Compare your base rate to the bands above. If you are 20 percent above the high end, the retention call is worth making.
See where your Charlotte bill sits against current rates
Upload your latest business internet invoice. We will run it against Charlotte carrier wholesale data and flag the side fees that should not be there.
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