Finding the right colocation service

I thought I knew a bit about hosting.. but why then did I find this task quite so taxing.

Did you know that most colo services are sub letting from other colo facilities and just marking up for their management expertise, (or just because they can)?

Then there is the question of Tier's. By some definitions Tier 1 companies are the Internet Providers like Verizon or Sprint. By other definitions every little Colocation facility is a Tier 1.... so which is it?

Some tell me that "you don't want to host with those little Tier 1 companies", you need to host with Tier 2 or above. Tier 2 I can understand - these are the folks who have their own 'transit routes' and buy the service of multiple Tier 1 companies and offer them all, generally providing better service than any one alone. But what about Tier 3? By some reckonings Tier three are the bottom of the pile but according to others they are the best broadest, most reliable places to connect your box...

Make it stop! Can't someone establish some rules and govern this mess!

I've been creating a spreadsheet (in no way exhaustive) to keep some of this straight in my head.. any feedback would be greatfully received.

We need great load times in both the US and EU and even as far a field as Japan.
The site is going to be media heavy with heavy traffic. (1mbps during the development phase, growing to at least 10mbps soon after it goes live. Its just a single 4U box at the moment but should have room to grow.