Advice on renegotiating ISP contract...

[Dimarc67]

I just joined a New York City company for whom my predecessor signed a two-year contract for a 20mbps fiber internet connection at $2500/month. The contract has 21 months left on it. The ISP is a reseller of Cogent Communications bandwidth (a common practice).

However, Cogent also sells their bandwidth directly at 100mbps for a $1000/month (or less on a two- or three-year term). Simply put, our ISP is selling us one fifth the bandwidth for five times the price.

Does anyone have any advice on how I might renegotiate this agreement? I recognize I'm not going to get us out of this contract (unless the ISP screws up enough to break the SLA), but I'd appreciate any suggestions on a compromise that would allow the ISP to see the value in marking down their pricing, yet still make a profit. With 21 months to go on the agreement, what points can I make to leverage against their lowering the cost?

Thanks very much.

Dimarc67
New York, NY

 

[burtsbees]

Have you brought this to their attention?

Burt

 

[Dimarc67]

Not yet, but I'll be meeting with them (ostensibly as a meeting of introduction) after the 1st of the year.

After several requests, they finally provided their SLA and executed Service Order Agreement. I was hoping to find other provided services outlined that would explain, or at least somewhat mitigate, the high cost, but it's all cookie-cutter language.

At this point, I intend to raise the subject when we meet, but I'm not certain I have any leverage here at all since we're locked into the contract for another 20 months. I was hoping someone with similar experience might be able to make some suggestions.

Thanks.