The five honest triggers
1 — Downtime costs real money: when an internet outage stops tills, calls or production, a leased line's SLA (fix targets in hours, credits when missed) stops being jargon. 2 — Upload is your workload: media, CAD, offsite backup, cloud servers — symmetric speed (same up as down) changes those jobs. 3 — You've outgrown sharing: broadband is contended; if 3pm feels slower than 8am and staff notice, you're feeling the neighbours. 4 — VoIP and video at scale: dozens of concurrent calls deserve guaranteed, consistent capacity. 5 — Multi-site or hosting: connecting sites or serving anything to the world wants dedicated, static, guaranteed bandwidth.
The cost reality — and the honest alternative
Prices have fallen hard: 100 Mbps–1 Gbps dedicated circuits now cost a few hundred pounds monthly in most urban areas — details, installation timelines and the excess-construction wrinkle are all in our Leased Line Costs UK guide. But here's the advice that costs us sales: modern full fibre answers many former leased-line cases. A 500 Mbps–1 Gbps FTTP service with 4G/5G failover bolted on delivers small-office resilience at a third of the price. The leased line wins when the SLA, symmetry or consistency genuinely matter to operations. Tell us what your business does; we'll tell you which — and show the working.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does a leased line cost now?
Typically a few hundred pounds monthly for 100Mb–1Gb in urban UK, varying by location and survey — full breakdown in our costs guide, or a firm quote for your postcode in a day.
How long does installation take?
Weeks to a few months depending on existing fibre at the premises — order early. We bridge with 4G/5G or FTTP if the timeline bites.
Is full fibre 'good enough' instead?
Often, honestly, yes — FTTP plus failover suits many SMEs beautifully. The leased line earns its premium on SLA, symmetry and guaranteed consistency; we'll tell you plainly which side your business sits.