Carrier Factors

From Bandipedia

There are several criteria to consider in selecting a carrier.

Service Level Agreements:

Service Level Agreements are documents put in place by each carrier giving minimum guarantees of the quality of service that you will receive and (where applicable) remedies for instances where these guarantees are not met. When selecting a type of broadband, ensure that the standards outlined in the carrier's SLA will match the needs of your business. In particular, pay attention to the remedies that each carrier offers. For instance, what will the carrier do if the uptime guarantees are not met? Remedies give a good indication of how likely the carrier is to uphold their SLA - if the carrier must compensate customers for each instance where guarantees are not met, the guarantees are more likely to be met.

Installation:

You should also consider the installation time frame that will be a good fit for you when choosing an Internet circuit. For T1 lines, the industry average for installations ranges from 45-60 calendar days.

Support:

Be sure to review the guarantees for customer care and support outlined in the SLAs for the carriers you consider. It is important to ensure that your carrier offers the level of support and response time that you need.

Price:

Price will obviously be important in choosing a circuit, and carrier prices differ significantly for the same product.

Reliability:

The reliability guarantees outlined in carrier SLAs will have a real impact on your business. Be sure to review carrier SLA offerings if reliability is a critical consideration for your business.

Contract Criteria:

It is important to consider the criteria of the contract you are looking at signing. Key elements of the contract that differ across carriers include auto-renewal, portability, and cancellation consequences. If you want to make sure you have flexibility in changing providers during or after your contract, make sure you review these key aspects of each provider's contract.

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