What is a Leased Line?

A dedicated, private internet connection running directly to your premises. Here's exactly what that means and whether your business needs one.

The simple explanation

A leased line is a private connection from a data centre directly to your office. Unlike standard broadband, it's not shared with anyone. You get the full speed you pay for — all day, every day, regardless of how many neighbours are online.

Leased line vs broadband: the key difference

Standard broadband is contended — your connection shares infrastructure with hundreds of other businesses and homes in your area. Peak times cause slowdowns. A leased line is yours alone: guaranteed, uncontended, consistent.

Symmetric speeds — why this matters

Leased lines deliver identical upload and download speeds. Most broadband has fast downloads but slow uploads. If your business does video conferencing, cloud backups, file transfers or VoIP calls, slow upload speed kills productivity. A leased line solves this permanently.

SLA guarantees — the real reason businesses pay for leased lines

Every leased line comes with a contractual SLA: typically a 4-hour fault fix guarantee. Standard broadband carries no repair time guarantee. If downtime costs your business money, the SLA alone justifies the investment.

What does a leased line cost in the UK?

A 100Mbps leased line typically costs £200–400/month. A 1Gbps line runs £400–800/month depending on location. Installation is usually included. Total contract value matters more than monthly price — always ask for a full 3-year cost comparison.

Who needs a leased line?

Leased lines suit businesses with 20+ staff, heavy cloud usage, multiple VoIP lines, hosted servers, or where even 30 minutes of downtime has a measurable financial impact. Smaller businesses often find FTTP broadband delivers sufficient performance at a fraction of the cost.

Installation timeline

Typically 45–90 days from order to live connection. This includes a site survey, civil works if new ducting is needed, and activation testing. We survey every site before quoting and give realistic timescales — not the optimistic estimates you'll get elsewhere.

Leased line alternatives worth considering

If a leased line is more than you need, consider: FTTP broadband (up to 1Gbps, much lower cost), EFM (Ethernet in the First Mile, uses copper — cheaper but lower speeds), or FTTC with 4G failover (our Assure X service). We help you choose the right solution, not the most expensive one.

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