What is dedicated internet access (DIA)?

Key takeaways

• Capacity stays reserved: A DIA circuit reserves bandwidth for one site in both directions, so latency and jitter stay steadier at busy hours.
• The last mile sets cost and timing: Sites already on a provider's fiber usually cost less and turn up sooner than sites that need another carrier or new construction.
• Read the SLA before the price: Check how uptime and latency are measured, what the agreement excludes, and how to claim service credits.
• Plan IP space early: Ask for static addresses sized to the site, and plan BGP if the site will connect to two providers.
• Pair DIA with a diverse path: Sites that can't go down need a second circuit on a separate route, with SD-WAN steering traffic across both.

Dedicated internet access (DIA) is a business internet service that delivers a fixed amount of bandwidth to one site over an access link no other customer shares. The provider puts its commitments on uptime, performance, and repair in a service level agreement (SLA).

In TeleGeography's WAN Manager Survey, WAN managers connected an average of 53.88% of their sites with DIA, the most common option among respondents.

But if you search for “what is dedicated internet access,” most explainers stop at dedicated versus shared. The terms that decide what a circuit is worth sit further down the quote: how the SLA is measured, what IP space comes with it, whether the provider owns the last mile, and how long the build takes.

Teams that buy DIA must check the last mile, SLA terms, and routing before comparing prices.

Once you know those terms, you can read a DIA quote and SLA line by line, ask for the right IP space, and decide which sites need DIA and which can run on broadband.

What dedicated internet access is

Dedicated internet access is an internet connection that reserves a fixed amount of bandwidth for one customer site, runs at the same speed upstream and downstream, and includes an SLA for performance and repairs. The provider carries the site's traffic across its own network and onto the public internet.

The standards body Mplify (formerly MEF) defines an IP service as Layer 3 connectivity that routes IP packets to and from one or more subscriber sites. DIA internet is that service delivered to a single enterprise site.

Three traits set DIA apart. Uncontended bandwidth means the access-link capacity belongs to one customer, and no other subscriber's traffic competes for it. Symmetrical bandwidth means uploads run as fast as downloads, which matters for cloud backups, video calls, and site-to-site VPN tunnels. Reserved capacity also keeps latency and jitter steadier under load, and real-time apps like voice and video benefit most.

DIA reserves the access link, and traffic past the provider's edge still crosses the public internet. Protection comes from the firewall, SD-WAN, or SASE layer that runs on top, so many teams plan new circuits alongside converging networking and security.

DIA also differs from IP transit. Transit is the wholesale product that carriers, content networks, and internet providers buy to reach the rest of the internet. DIA packages that reach with an access circuit, an SLA, and support terms for an enterprise site.

How a DIA circuit reaches your site

A fiber DIA circuit follows this path from the provider's network to the router in your equipment room, and most steps affect the price and the install date.

• Provider network: The provider's routers connect to the wider internet and hand your traffic to the access network.
• Metro fiber: Fiber runs through the city or region toward your building.
• Lateral: A short fiber spur leaves the metro route and runs onto your property, and it has to be built if none exists.
• Building entry and riser: Cable enters the building through a conduit and climbs the riser to your floor or equipment room.
• Demarcation and handoff: The provider's equipment ends at the demarcation point and hands off service, usually on an Ethernet port.
• Customer router or firewall: Your equipment takes the handoff and routes traffic for the site.

A site is on-net when the provider already owns fiber into the building. An off-net site rides another carrier's last mile, so the provider orders access from that carrier and connects it to its own network. Off-net circuits usually cost more and take longer, because two carriers' orders, schedules, and margins stack up.

Three things push out lead times most often. Off-net orders wait in the second carrier's queue, lateral construction can need permits and digging, and the landlord controls access to the building entry and riser.

Most DIA today arrives as dedicated fiber internet, which supports the highest speeds and the most room to grow. The provider usually hands it off over Ethernet. In some markets, providers also deliver DIA over fixed wireless links with reserved capacity, and 5G fixed wireless for faster site turn-up can carry a new site while its fiber lateral is built.

What makes DIA different from business broadband

Business broadband shares capacity. The cable or fiber node that serves a neighborhood splits its bandwidth among every subscriber, so speeds dip when neighbors get busy. Broadband plans also favor downloads.

The FCC's fixed broadband benchmark, set in March 2024, is 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, a five-to-one split. Broadband usually comes on best-effort terms, with few written commitments on latency or repair.

DIA reserves capacity for one site, delivers symmetrical bandwidth, and puts performance and repair commitments in an SLA.

What a DIA SLA covers and how to read one

An internet SLA turns a provider's promises into measurable terms with remedies attached. Mplify's IP service performance metrics give buyers a shared vocabulary for those terms: delay, delay variation (jitter), loss ratio, service uptime, and mean time to repair (MTTR). The way each metric is measured decides what the commitment is worth, so check these six terms in every DIA SLA.

• Availability: Find out how the provider measures uptime, over what period, and what counts as an outage, since a slow or lossy circuit may not qualify.
• Latency and jitter: Check where they're measured, because a figure taken only across the provider's own network leaves out the off-net last mile and the path to a named cloud region.
• Packet loss: Look for the measurement window, since loss averaged over a month can hide hours of heavy loss.
• Time to repair: Separate a mean time to repair, which averages all outages, from a committed restore time that applies to each one.
• Exclusions: List what doesn't count, such as scheduled maintenance windows, faults on customer equipment, and off-net segments the provider doesn't own.
• Credits: Learn how to claim them, the filing deadline, and the cap, because credits often have to be requested in writing and are usually limited to a share of the monthly fee.

A strong SLA ties each metric to a verifiable measurement point and a credit you can collect.

IP addressing and routing: static IPs and BGP

A DIA order sets the IP space and routing the site will run on. Settle both before signing, because changing them later can mean renumbering the site.

Static IP blocks

Most DIA circuits come with static IP addresses, fixed public addresses that don't change. Sites need them for VPN gateways and any service reached from outside. Providers assign blocks sized to what the site runs and may ask you to justify a larger block. Provider-assigned addresses belong to the provider, so they stay behind when you change carriers.

Plan any carrier switch around renumbering firewalls, VPN peers, DNS records, and partner allowlists.

BGP and multihoming

An IETF informational RFC describes a multihomed site as one with more than one transit provider. With BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), the general approach is to announce the site's routes to two or more providers. Inbound and outbound traffic can then shift to the second provider when the first fails, and the site keeps the same addresses on both paths.

In the ARIN region, which covers the US, Canada, and parts of the Caribbean, ARIN policy lets an upstream provider treat a need to multihome as enough reason to reassign a customer a /24. A /24 is the smallest IPv4 block most networks accept in global routing.

Sites with one circuit have no need for BGP. Sites with SD-WAN handling failover often skip it too, because BGP needs a capable router and a team that can run it.

What drives DIA pricing

DIA pricing reflects bandwidth, the cost of reaching the building, the local market, and the circuit terms. Each factor moves a quote in a predictable direction.

Ask for each factor as a separate line item, so quotes from different providers compare cleanly.

When a site needs DIA (and when it doesn't)

Match dedicated internet access to what each site runs and what an outage there would cost. Five site profiles cover most decisions:

• Data centers and hubs: Sites that carry traffic for other locations need reserved capacity, because congestion there slows every site behind them.
• Real-time sites: Locations that run voice and video calls feel jitter and loss first, so steady latency pays off there.
• Upload-heavy sites: Offices that push large backups, file sync, and site-to-site VPN traffic use upload capacity that broadband plans often lack.
• Hosting sites: Locations that host services reached from outside need static addresses and dependable inbound access.
• Small SaaS-only branches: Sites with light upload needs that mostly reach SaaS apps can often run on business broadband, with a 5G wireless backup that turns up fast for outages.

DIA across many sites: sourcing, diversity, and SD-WAN

Buying DIA for one office is a single negotiation. Buying it for 50 sites in several countries means dozens of carriers, contracts, and support desks. TeleGeography's 2025 State of the Network found only 15% of companies sourced their DIA from a single provider. Teams that handle sourcing internet across countries well write one standard for SLAs, IP space, and handoffs, apply it to dedicated internet across every site and country, and hold every local carrier to it.

A single circuit is still a single point of failure. Uptime Institute's 2026 outage analysis found that fiber and connectivity outages are rising and more likely to cause extended disruptions. Sites that can't go down need a second path, and two circuits protect a site best when they're physically diverse circuits that share no conduit, building entry, or carrier network. A network-wide failover plan decides which sites get that second path and how traffic moves at each one when the first fails.

DIA also serves as the SD-WAN underlay at many sites. The SD-WAN layer runs encrypted tunnels across the DIA circuit and a second link, measures each path, and steers traffic to the healthier one. For networks moving off MPLS, the SD-WAN versus MPLS tradeoffs come down to cost, control, and performance.

Get the right circuit at every site

Dedicated internet access gives a site reserved, symmetrical capacity and written commitments. Across many sites, the hard parts are the last mile, the SLA fine print, and a different carrier at nearly every address.

Momentum is carrier neutral. We source DIA from 750+ carriers and service providers and recommend the right route for each site, even when it isn't ours. Where no good route exists, we lay our own fiber and splice into carrier networks.

You get one named project manager who runs every rollout through turn-up, and our US-based 24/7/365 NOC can monitor every circuit, including those owned by third-party carriers, and handle break-fix with the carrier. Every DIA circuit comes with an SLA, and one team and one contract cover them all, whether you start with one site or a global rollout.

List your sites, current circuits, and contract end dates, then book a meeting to match the right circuit to each one.

FAQs

What is a DIA circuit?

A DIA circuit is the physical and logical service that delivers dedicated internet to one site. It includes the access link from the provider's network into the building, a port at the demarcation point, and a fixed amount of bandwidth reserved for that site in both directions. The provider routes the site's traffic to the internet and backs the circuit with an SLA covering performance and repair.

Why is dedicated internet access more expensive than broadband?

Dedicated internet access costs more because the provider holds capacity for one customer that it could otherwise sell to many. An SLA also commits the provider to performance and repair targets with credits attached. Some sites also need a new fiber lateral or building entry, and that construction shows up as a one-time charge or a longer term.

Does DIA come with static IP addresses?

Most DIA services include static IP addresses, assigned in a block sized to what the site needs. Providers may ask you to justify a larger block. Provider-assigned addresses belong to the provider, so changing carriers usually means renumbering. Sites that connect to two providers can run BGP to announce the same address block over both circuits, which keeps services reachable when one circuit fails.

Can dedicated internet access be delivered over wireless?

Providers in some markets deliver dedicated internet access over fixed wireless links, which can bring a site online sooner than a fiber build. Fiber remains the most common delivery method because it supports the highest speeds and the most room to grow.

How fast is dedicated internet access?

Dedicated internet access comes in tiers that run from tens of megabits per second to 10 Gbps and beyond, depending on the provider and the building. Whatever the tier, the speed is symmetrical and reserved, so a 1 Gbps circuit has 1 Gbps of capacity both ways, even during peak hours.