What Is a Leased Line and Is It Worth the Cost?
A leased line is a dedicated internet connection running exclusively to your business, with no other businesses sharing the same bandwidth and equal upload and download speeds. It typically costs more than standard business broadband — commonly somewhere between £150 and £650 a month depending on speed and location — but it's worth the cost for businesses that depend on consistent, reliable connectivity, particularly for VoIP, cloud software, or multiple sites. For businesses with lighter, less critical usage, it's often more than they actually need.
For the full breakdown of speeds, providers, and installation detail, see our complete guide to what a leased line is.
How Is It Different from Standard Broadband?
Most business broadband, including full fibre (FTTP), is a contended connection — you're sharing capacity with other users in your area, which is usually fine most of the time but can affect performance during peak usage. A leased line is uncontended, meaning the bandwidth is entirely yours, with guaranteed speeds backed by a service level agreement (SLA) that typically includes fast fault response times.
The other key difference is symmetry. Standard broadband usually offers much faster downloads than uploads, while a leased line provides equal speed in both directions — which matters more than most people expect for VoIP calls, video conferencing, and cloud backups.
How Much Does a Leased Line Cost?
Prices vary by speed, location, and contract length, but as a rough guide:
- 100Mbps leased line — typically £150–£350 per month
- 1Gbps leased line — typically £250–£650 per month
- Installation — can range from £0 to a few thousand pounds, though many providers waive this on longer contracts
Rural or harder-to-reach locations tend to cost more, since installation sometimes involves laying new fibre infrastructure. Installation lead times are also longer than standard broadband, often 30–90 days, which is worth factoring into any migration timeline.
Is It Worth It for Your Business?
A leased line tends to make genuine sense if:
- Your business relies on VoIP calling and can't tolerate poor call quality
- You use cloud software, hosted desktops, or large file transfers daily
- You operate from a single site that's central to how the business runs
- Downtime or slow performance has a direct, measurable cost to your business
- You need a guaranteed SLA with fast fault response, not just "best effort" support
When a Leased Line Isn't Necessary
For a lot of smaller businesses with lighter usage, a good-quality full fibre (FTTP) broadband connection, properly configured with Quality of Service settings, performs perfectly well without the extra cost. If your business isn't especially sensitive to occasional slower periods, and you're not running anything genuinely mission-critical over the connection, a leased line is often more capability than you actually need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a leased line the same as fibre broadband? No. Full fibre (FTTP) broadband can offer high speeds, but it's still typically a shared, contended connection. A leased line is dedicated entirely to your business, with guaranteed rather than best-effort performance.
Does a leased line guarantee my VoIP calls will never have problems? It significantly reduces the risk of network-related call quality issues, since you're not competing for bandwidth with other users, but proper Quality of Service configuration still matters on top of it.
How long does a leased line take to install? Typically 30 to 90 days, depending on location and whether existing fibre infrastructure is already nearby. This is considerably longer than standard broadband, so it's worth ordering well ahead of any planned migration.
Can I get a leased line for a small business, or is it only for larger companies? Leased lines are increasingly accessible to smaller businesses as fibre coverage has expanded, though whether it's worth the cost still comes down to how much your business depends on reliable, high-performance connectivity.
Whether a leased line is worth it depends entirely on how your business actually uses its connection. Request a quote for independent advice, or read our complete leased line guide for full pricing and provider detail.
