What are Leased Lines? A buyers guide to Leased Line Connectivity.

A leased line is a fixed bandwidth data connection that is dedicated to your business. The name ‘Leased Line’ comes from the fact that the connection is rented by a business from an Internet Service Provider for exclusive use. Leased lines are usually symmetrical, meaning they have the same upload and download speed, and uncontended meaning that they are not shared with other businesses.

Leased lines offer high reliability with assured uptime and minimal downtime, making them a dependable choice for businesses requiring continuous and stable Internet connectivity.

Leased lines provide symmetrical upload and download speeds, enabling efficient data transfer in both directions. This feature is particularly advantageous for businesses that rely on frequent data uploads, video conferencing, and other activities necessitating balanced data flow.

Leased lines can be easily incorporated into secure networks encompassing direct access to centralised IT environments (Servers, etc.) and other sites inside the organisation. Please note that not all providers are able to offer this capability.

Leased lines offer heightened security measures, including dedicated encryption protocols and secure data transmission. With a private, dedicated connection, businesses can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and cyber threats, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information.

Leased lines are typically more expensive compared to other Internet connectivity options, such as broadband. Initial installation costs can make leased lines less feasible for smaller businesses.

Setting up a leased line can involve longer lead times than broadband due to the complexities associated with installation and configuration. This prolonged installation process can hinder the swift deployment of critical business operations.

Broadband is typically delivered as a pure Internet access only. To connect broadband based branch sites to centralised IT environments may require VPNs which require traffic to be passed unnecessarily over the Internet and can be unreliable.

The gold standard when it comes to Internet connectivity. Fibre Leased Lines provide true end-to-end fibre connectivity offering symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gbit/s. Fibre leased lines are the fastest and most reliable.

EoFTTx is delivered over existing fibre infrastructure over the same path as FTTC or FTTP broadband, travelling over copper phone line from your premises to the street cabinet, or via fibre and then fibre back to the exchange. However, instead of using the contended Broadband Network, is passes over the uncontended Ethernet Network. This means you get a dedicated line but at broadband speeds.

EFM is a traditional leased line technology delivered over copper cables. EFM is being phased out ahead of the 2025 PSTN switch off, with many EFM services already on a stop sell.

Fibre leased lines can be delivered offering a range of speeds from 10 Mbit/s up to 10Gbit/s (10,000 Mbit/s). 
EoFTTx lines can deliver speeds of up to 2.5Gbit/s.

Fibre Ethernet Leased Line install times are typically up to 90 days, but can be much shorter. If a leased line is the right service for your business there are temporary solutions that can provide connectivity until install is completed. EoFTTx services are typically delivered within 20-30 days.

Whilst many businesses consider leased lines for speed alone, there are many factors that mean a business could benefit from leased line infrastructure. A leased line connection is uncontended, meaning you benefit from more consistent speeds. The SLA’s that come hand in hand with a leased line mean that any fault with your connection is likely to be resolved within hours rather than days or weeks. Many businesses would benefit from leased line infrastructure in an age of increasing cloud service adoption. 

Businesses who fall into the following categories may see the most benefit: 
• Businesses that rely on fast data transfer 
Any business that relies on fast data transfer for day-to-day operations could benefit from a leased line. 
• Businesses that heavily use Cloud applications and SaaS Many businesses now interact with multiple cloud applications on a daily basis. 
CRM systems such as Salesforce are entirely cloud-based. Leased lines can aid these businesses in having uninterrupted access to cloud applications, particularly where large data sets are being handled. This is particularly beneficial for data focussed businesses that need to monitor and analyse data in real time or businesses that provide cloud services to their own clients. 
• Businesses that use VoIP with multiple concurrent calls VoIP requires a stable Internet connection. 
Fibre broadband is more than capable of supporting VoIP calls, but when a business has many employees making concurrent calls it could be time to consider a leased line.

Fibre Ethernet Leased Line install times are typically up to 90 days, but can be much shorter. If a leased line is the right service for your business there are temporary solutions that can provide connectivity until install is completed. EoFTTx services are typically delivered within 20-30 days.

Most providers will specify the minimum % of uptime they guarantee as part of their SLA.

A service level agreement outlines the obligations and best practices for both parties. It is reasonable to expect that the fix time on a leased line will be shorter than on a broadband connection.

If you have to reach out for support will you reach an expert or be passed around a call centre to explain your problem to various people before landing on someone that can help?

Any upfront cost for your fibre leased line will be determined by your business’s location and the amount of engineering required to connect you to the network. You should then have a consistent monthly amount to pay ongoing that covers your bandwidth and monthly rental.

This is really important. Unless the requirement for a leased line is less than 3 years, a 3 year term will provide the best balance of cost. For anything shorter than 3 years, expect to pay a setup fee which could be of the order of £2k+. If the term is longer than 3 years, you lose the option to renegotiate a better deal. Even more importantly, check what happens at the end of the contract term. The best scenario is that the term converts to a rolling contract with a notice period of say 90 days. The worst scenario is a contract that auto renews, effectively locking you in to another 12 months or longer.

An ISP has their own network infrastructure, controls how your data is carried through the network and has their own in-house experts to support you. A reseller is a company or individual that resells the services of another provider. The relationship they have with the provider may influence the levels of service you can expect.

A leased line should be a dedicated connection used only by your business. In reality, some ISPs do cut costs by providing a contended connection – essentially shared bandwidth – across multiple connections at the same time.

If your business cannot afford to lose connectivity in the unlikely event that an issue arises with your leased line then you need to run a backup connection alongside.

If you are thinking of changing or upgrading your service and the one you have is working well, talk to your existing service provider. They may well be able to provide services that can accommodate your changing needs and give you a good deal.

Here at CloudConnX we are an ISP and directly connect with all of the main network carriers enabling us to provide you with the most reliable service at the best price. We do the hard work for you, whilst you benefit from our network and support.

Our leased lines come hand-in-hand with a high standard SLA (service level agreement). In practice this means that if there’s a problem, we’ll get you up and running again quickly, typically within five hours.

Just like all of our other services, our leased lines can be incorporated into a custom network design to connect to other premises and cloud services in your organisation.