If you are looking for information on Leased Lines, what they cost and what specifications you can expect, then look no further, as this page is dedicated to just that...

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Cost vs Benefit

At first glance, a Leased Line can seem like a huge expense for an Internet connection, but it's all relative. If your business needs a guaranteed, fast connection, delivered on a circuit that is completely dedicated to you and not shared amongst many others, then Leased Lines are great value for money. And did I mention the outstanding reliability?..

Essentially it boils down to the old saying, 'you get what you pay for' - and this is never more true than with Leased Lines.

 

Specifications

As mentioned, a Leased Line is a dedicated (generally fibre*) connection from your business to the carrier network, be that BT, Virgin or any other. This is available for businesses that do not want to share their connection over the subterranean infrastructure owned by providers and carriers, as sharing the route not only reduces the capabilities of the connectivity both upstream and downstream, but it also raises other issues, such as interference on the line, SLA's and security. An analogy often used is, imagine the connectivity route as a public motorway. There is plenty of traffic going both ways, but the flow is affected by the speeds of other traffic and hazards, and is therefore not a safe or predictable environment for a controlled journey. You could compare a Leased Line to your own private motorway, solely for your use, free of traffic and congestion and therefore the best situation for a safe and controlled journey. What a dream environment. 

*Copper tails are also used in some instances (known as EFM circuits). These use copper pairs to provide the delivery into and out of the premises. They are slightly less expensive and usually available in lower speed denominations, but are not available everywhere.

 

Leased Lines offer the fastest speeds available to businesses today, relative to cost. The speeds start at 10 Mbps through 100 Mbps and 1Gbps, then onto 10 Gbps, although only in rare cases are the latter procured for a business connection.

Additionally, Leased Lines are symmetric, so these speeds can be achieved both up and down.

 

Installation costs are the biggest variant for customers that choose Leased Lines. The majority of the time businesses are in a good location and fibre-optic cables have been laid to their demise, this is known as 'on-net'. In many situations, fibre will not be present, this is known as 'off-net'. In some cases the cost of bringing fibre to the premises may be fronted by the customer. There are also rare incidents when new ducting will be dug and fibres laid into the ground, in order to bring the customers location 'on-net'. This is again a cost that needs to be covered by the customer. Although with this said, we do have a track record of finding unique ways to alleviate these costs. Overall though, nowadays it is crucial to research the area you are moving to before you acquire a new office. If you are already in a building that doesn't have good connectivity, and you require a Leased Line, get in touch to discuss what can be achieved.  

 

Comparisons

When making a big decision, it's good to compare against other options or even competitors. To aid this, we have created a Performance Table to visually compare the connectivity services available to businesses.