Any Experts in Internet Pricing for Business?
 

I'm questioning our Internet pricing. I'm am untrusting because we are purchasing internet from our IT guy's dad's company and there have been quite a bit of shady or unclear dealings with this guy.

It's slightly complicated:
A couple of years ago, we had a tower installed on top of our building. At the time, I was told that we had to receive service via microwave on a tower due to the rural area that we are in.

Now that we getting an investor in our company the lawyers are getting liens, etc. looked over and released and I was asked to get the contract for the tower on the building. This was the first I ever heard of a contract and when I asked our IT guy to get it, he supplied a recently renewed (3 year) contract between my company and the tower company. I looked up the tower company and it's our IT guy's dad.

It states that we will allow a tower to be placed on our building and in return we will receive discounted internet service ($800.00 per month vs a normal $1,600.00 monthly service). The contract is signed by our IT Manager and the president of the tower company who is not his dad but his dad owns the company. So, at first glance, you do not see a contract signed by people with the same last name.

BTW, the tower now has about 12 microwaves so it is obviously being used for other companies as well.

The specific internet services is for "Wireless Business 200m/200m" and that is all the monthly invoice says. It is also being paid automatically via our IT guy's AMEX so I never see the bill.

What does the brain trust think?

$800/mo for internet access sounds nutty unless you are a broadcasting company with super heavy data needs. Call Verizon and Iridium and get competitive quotes. How much speed do you need?

We have a lot of equipment and phone usage in our plant. I would estimate about 75 cell phones and 50ish computers. A lot of production equipment has electronic controls that interact via our network. I'm not sure I understand what 200m/200m means.

We used to have a location in New Mexico but we closed that plant 6 months ago so no communicating with them anymore.

I'm guessing 200mbps upload and download speed.

Asked my neighbor who has an office that sounds a little smaller than you (his is ~40 office people) and he said he pays Comcast $200/month for 150mbs download and 50 upload, if that helps at all.

Sounds like your discounted rate is pretty high, but the rural aspect may play a role.

I know nothing about internet pricing for business....but I know that with the price they charge for a single family home, the price you quoted doesn't seem out of range.

All of a sudden...I have a craving for micro-wave popcorn. :)

I know doodly squat about Internet pricing, but I know what an old dead fish smells like.

Smells fishy :D

Spend a little quality time on google.

https://www.steelintheair.com/cell-tower-lease-rates/

https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/business-internet-guide

Prices are all over the map depending on where you are.

The tower deal sounds a little skechy as the are making money from leasing out the space to other providers. You may also want to check the weight, if it is a lot and goes through the roof, who gets sued?

"First you heard about a contract"

Red flags everywhere.

Call the IT guy in. Kill everything. Start fresh. (In a perfect world). Not sure you can do this

I have lots of friends / relatives / contacts in the internet biz. But, it is not rural, so, I don't think this compares very well.

What a mess.