Full fibre vs leased line.
An honest comparison of full fibre and leased line for UK businesses — speeds, SLA, contention, cost, install times, and when each is genuinely the right choice. No marketing spin.
What we hear every week.
The frustrations behind why businesses search for full fibre vs leased line in the first place. If any of these feel familiar, the fix is straightforward.
Paying for leased line when FTTP would do
Plenty of UK SMEs are sold leased line for reliability they don't actually need at that price point. FTTP plus failover often delivers the same operational outcome at a fraction of the cost.
Running on FTTP when leased line is justified
Conversely — operations where downtime hurts genuinely (manufacturing, financial services, healthcare) sometimes scrape by on FTTP, then experience the cost of unplanned outages.
Lead times that don't suit the business need
Leased lines take 60-120 days. FTTP is typically 10-15 days. Lead time alone often decides which is the right answer.
SLA marketing that's not always what it seems
'99.9% uptime' sounds great but specifics matter — fix-on-call times, credit amounts, definition of outage. We translate the marketing into operational reality.
Honest comparison: FTTP vs leased line
**FTTP**: typical 500Mbps-1Gbps symmetric, latency 5-15ms, contended at carrier wholesale layer but with strong contention ratios for business tiers, best-effort uptime (no SLA credits typically), monthly cost £40-150 depending on speed. **Leased line**: typical 100Mbps-10Gbps symmetric, latency similar, uncontended (your bandwidth is yours), SLA-backed uptime 99.95%-99.99% with real credits, monthly cost £200-2,000+ depending on speed. **When FTTP is enough**: most SMEs, professional services, retail, hospitality where short outages are tolerable and FTTP plus failover gives effective resilience. **When leased line earns its keep**: operations where downtime costs more per hour than the line costs per year — manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, large multi-site, anything regulated.
The Telexico approach to full fibre vs leased line.
Six things our customers consistently tell us matter.
Right-tool-for-the-operation guidance
We assess your actual downtime cost, your bandwidth profile, your peak loads, and recommend honestly.
Both are deployed via Telexico
Whichever fits, we deploy and manage — Openreach Ethernet for leased line, Openreach/CityFibre for FTTP.
Hybrid setups where they make sense
Some businesses run FTTP primary plus leased line backup; some run leased line primary plus FTTP backup; some run dual leased lines. We design around the resilience requirement.
Realistic cost comparison
We model 3-year total cost (line + install + support) so you compare like-for-like rather than month one.
SLA reality check
We translate the carrier SLA into what it actually means for your operation — credits, fix times, escalation paths.
One provider for whichever you choose
Leased line, FTTP, or hybrid — single Telexico provider relationship, single bill, single support number.
Built around UK business operational risk
The right choice depends on what downtime actually costs your business. A 10-person professional services firm with 4 hours of broadband downtime: inconvenient, some productivity lost, recoverable. Same downtime at a 200-bed hospital: dangerous. Same at a financial trading desk: catastrophic. Connectivity tier should track operational risk — not industry default or carrier marketing.
How it works for businesses like yours.
Three real-world setups we deliver across the UK.
Most UK SMEs: FTTP plus failover
Professional services, retail, hospitality, small-medium operations where short outages are tolerable. FTTP gives the speed; failover gives the resilience.
Healthcare and regulated operations: leased line
GP practices, dental, financial services, regulated firms — SLA uptime and documented compliance justify the cost.
Manufacturing and multi-site: leased line plus FTTP backup
Production where downtime stops the line; multi-site with consistent operations — leased line for the primary, FTTP or Starlink as the diverse failover.
Why UK businesses trust Telexico's honest comparisons
We deploy both — and we recommend honestly based on the operation. UK-based managed infrastructure provider. One provider for FTTP, leased line, failover, phones, WiFi, AI receptionist and CCTV. Wolverhampton-headquartered, UK engineers, UK support.
What you actually get from Telexico.
Honest about scope. No aggressive sales tactics, no surprise renewal jumps, no tier-1 call-centre triage. Real UK engineers, transparent pricing, one provider relationship across the stack.
UK-based provider
Wolverhampton-headquartered. Engineers cover the West Midlands daily; UK-wide install via our partner network. Real UK engineer support, UK data residency, UK contractual relationship — not US-routed SaaS.
Real engineer support
When you call Telexico, you reach someone who can actually fix things. Response SLA backed by real engineering capacity rather than call-centre headcount. Named account manager for ongoing customers.
Free infrastructure review
Every engagement starts with a no-obligation audit of your current setup. Honest recommendation — sometimes that's "stay with your current provider after negotiation." We'd rather be honest than oversell.
Transparent pricing
What you sign for is what you pay — including renewal. No teaser pricing that jumps 30-100% at year two. No mid-contract CPI shock. Predictable multi-year cost from day one.
One provider, one platform
Broadband, hosted VoIP, business WiFi, AI Receptionist, 4G/5G failover, CCTV consolidated onto one Telexico relationship. Single bill, single support number, single engineer when something needs attention.
Migration project-managed
Switching to Telexico isn't DIY. We handle contract audit, notice timing, ordering, parallel running, cutover, old-provider close-out. Customer-visible disruption typically measured in minutes.
Tailored around your business.
Tell us what you have now and what's frustrating you. We'll come back with a tailored review of where we can simplify, consolidate or improve it — no fixed-package pressure, no hard sell.
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Indicative UK pricing for leased lines — what affects the price, ranges, and a free tailored review.
Free infrastructure review
Send us your current setup. We'll review what you have, what you pay, and where we can simplify.
Frequently asked questions
Isn't leased line always better?
Better at uptime SLA and contention — yes. But for most UK SMEs, the operational difference between FTTP and leased line is small and the cost difference is large. FTTP plus failover often delivers similar real-world resilience at a fraction of the cost.
When is leased line genuinely worth it?
When downtime cost per hour exceeds the annual leased-line uplift over FTTP. Manufacturing where production stops, healthcare where patients are affected, financial services where regulation matters, large multi-site where consistent SLA is operational. Most SMEs don't meet the threshold; some do.
How does pricing compare?
FTTP typically £40-150/month depending on speed; leased line typically £200-1000/month at the same speeds, much more at higher tiers. Install costs also differ — FTTP £150-500, leased line £1,500-15,000 depending on civils.
What about install times?
FTTP typically 10-15 working days; leased line 60-120 working days, sometimes longer where civils are required. Lead time alone often decides which is feasible for the business need.
Can I move from leased line to FTTP if my operation changes?
Yes — and several Telexico customers have done so. Cost saving is meaningful; resilience needs to be replaced with proper failover. We model both sides honestly.
Can I move from FTTP to leased line if I outgrow it?
Yes — usually because operational requirements have changed (SLA needs, downtime cost) or because the business has grown. We migrate cleanly with the same number porting and managed router approach.
What about hybrid — FTTP plus leased line?
Common for businesses needing genuine path diversity. Dual circuits from different carriers with different physical routing. Designed around the resilience requirement.
Apply this to your business?
Reading the guide is one thing; applying it to your specific operation is another. Send us your current setup — we'll review what you have, what fits, and where to start. No hard sell, no fixed-package pressure.