How to choose the right broadband service provider
It is important to spend time researching the right service provider when choosing broadband, argues Andrew Dickinson
The process of choosing a broadband service provider is difficult. There are many providers that will offer services and speeds that their networks simply cannot deliver. What customers need during any procurement process is not false promises and lots of hot air, but assurances that can be substantiated. Spurious claims and offers of lower costs should not act as the basis for choosing any supplier.
Providers need to be challenged at every point and forced to justify claims about performance and reliability. No stone should be left unturned when it comes to researching a suitable network provider. Questions should be asked about past, and ongoing investment in the network and product innovation, of the company’s track record and management structure, of the contention rates available and of user profiles.
Beyond having a strong and dependable network, customers want speedy connections that are constant throughout the day and not victim to the activity of a high number of users. Establishing the network’s contention ratio is key to ensuring that customers get a quick, reliable service and are not left disappointed. Often the way some providers cut the monthly costs and remain profitable is by oversubscribing the service and running very high contention rates.
Asking the right kind of questions of network providers is essential for any ISP to ensure they get a service that performs well over the short term as well as the long term. The smoke-and-mirror approach some providers take, where the focus is on unproven claims and low costs should not cloud the issue. In a market where consolidation and acquisition is high, and where providers are here one day and gone the next, the benefits of choosing a provider that not only has a good track record, but also a forward-thinking investment plans are clearly significant.
Switching between service providers is not as easy with broadband as it is with carrier pre-selection. Often end-users will need to change their user names, passwords and even re-configure a router, so it is even more important to invest some time to choose the right service provider. Low-grade broadband used for web browsing and email may be sufficient now. However, as businesses demand more from IP connections, VARs will be faced with having to migrate all of their users to a more suitable network provider. Never has the old adage ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ been more appropriate.
Andrew Dickinson is sales and marketing director at Griffin Internet.