bendsley

Because Tier 1 internet providers charge royalty fees to "access" their networks. I don't think you want to pay these.

Tier 1 providers offer many benefits. Typically, a Tier 1 provider has SLAs (service-level agreements) which include 99.9 percent uptime guarantees, impressive security, continuous and clean power, and protection from fire, earthquakes, and other disasters. The impressive power of a Tier 1 provider is its backbone. They provide you clear passage while other providers may send you across the bumpy back roads. A Tier 1 provider takes you from the West Coast to the East Coast in one big hop, while others may pass you along to various locations across the United States. Also, a Tier 1 Provider's service is usually more costly then what a Tier 2 or Tier 3 Provider may charge, because the Tier 1 provider offers a very extensive network, security, reliability and quality service.

The list of major Tier 1 providers include: AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Cable and Wireless, GTE, IBM, MCI (UUNet), Qwest and Sprint.

-- Tier 1 operators typically have operations in more than one country
-- Tier 1 operators own and operate their own physical networks, and either own or part-own their international submarine cable links.
-- Tier 1 operators have revenue-neutral peering agreements with other Tier 1 operators, and generally do not pay for transit.

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