Hello David
When purchasing consumer grade connections (i.e. DSL, cable, fixed 5G etc…) that you can get for your home or small business, the primary variable that affects the cost is indeed the speed. In most cases it is the only variable!
For enterprise-grade connections which include technologies such as MPLS, there are many more variables involved that will affect the price. Speed is still a fundamental parameter, so if all else remains equal, yes a higher speed will cost more.
Other parameters that play a significant role in the cost of enterprise grade connections include:
- Connection type - fiber or microwave links will typically cost more than copper, Wi-Fi/WiMax, or mobile network connections.
- Asynchronous or Synchronous - Asynchronous links (slow upload fast download) are typically cheaper than synchronous links (equal upload and download speed).
- SLAs - Enterprise-grade links usually include different levels of service and response times for dealing with faults and support requests. Each SLA level has a different cost.
So when it comes to MPLS and other enterprise-grade technologies, speed does play a role in the cost, but so do other parameters that are important to such implementations.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz