Small business broadband guide: what features matter (static IP, SLA, 4G backup), technology comparison (FTTC £34–76Mbps vs FTTP £35–200Mbps vs leased line £260–1Gbps), and VoIP ROI.
Choosing business broadband for a small business requires understanding what features matter (static IP, SLA guarantees, 4G backup), which technology delivers best value (FTTC, FTTP, or leased line), and whether bundling with VoIP reduces costs and complexity. Most small businesses (<1–20 staff) prioritize affordability while needing reliably faster speeds than home broadband and dedicated support that doesn't route calls through residential queues. This guide explains what's included in business packages, benchmarks three connectivity technologies by speed and cost, explores VoIP ROI and integration, and provides transparent pricing examples from leading providers so you can calculate which solution delivers best return on investment for your specific business profile.
The first and most valuable inclusion in business broadband is commercial support—a dedicated team handling business customers separately from residential users. When you call your provider with an issue, you reach specialists trained in business requirements, not tier-1 residential support.
Impact: Response time drops from 20+ minute waits on residential lines to 5–10 minute waits on commercial teams. Support hours are extended (typically 24/7 for critical issues versus 9am–5pm residential). Most importantly, support staff understands business context—they know why uptime matters, prioritize revenue-critical faults, and offer proactive escalation rather than scripted troubleshooting.
Note: This assumes mid-tier or premium providers. Budget providers may outsource commercial support to the same queues as residential; confirm support structure in SLA before committing.
Business packages typically bundle fibre broadband—delivering 76Mbps (FTTC standard), 300–500Mbps (FTTP in covered areas), or 1Gbps+ (leased lines). Home broadband maxes out around 40Mbps for most users.
Practical impact: 76Mbps fibre supports 10–15 concurrent cloud app users, 3–4 simultaneous video calls, and 5–10 minute large file uploads. 300Mbps FTTP supports 30+ concurrent users and sustained video conferencing without degradation. For small businesses, 76Mbps is typically sufficient; 300Mbps becomes necessary when team scales past 20 staff or workflows involve daily large file transfers.
Upload speed is often overlooked. Standard home broadband maxes around 10Mbps upload; business FTTC offers 19–20Mbps; business FTTP offers 50Mbps; leased lines offer symmetric upload (matching download). For creative industries (video production, photography, design), upload speed is more critical than download—prioritize this when comparing packages.
All business packages include unlimited monthly data—no thresholds, no overage charges, no surprise bills for exceeding allowances. Fair use policies exist, but they're rarely enforced for normal business operations (except if you're running a streaming service or torrenting).
Contrast with home broadband, where some providers impose 300GB/month caps and charge £5–£10/GB for usage above allowance. For businesses running cloud backups, frequent video conferencing, and SaaS applications, unlimited data eliminates budget uncertainty and support friction.
Premium business packages include Service Level Agreements (SLA)—written uptime guarantees (typically 99.5–99.9%) with automatic credit if actual uptime falls short. Budget packages offer "best effort" SLA with no financial guarantee.
4G Assure (BT's terminology) or 4G backup (industry standard) is increasingly common: if your fibre connection drops, automatic failover to 4G mobile network keeps communications flowing within seconds. While 4G isn't permanent replacement, it buys time for engineers to diagnose fibre fault and arrive onsite. For businesses where 2–4 hour downtime during engineer dispatch is acceptable, 4G backup provides genuine risk reduction.
Leased lines include automatic failover architecture—if primary line fails, backup route activates within milliseconds, making outage imperceptible to users. This is essential for revenue-critical operations but costs 4–10x more than fibre.
Business packages allow choosing phone numbers or registering multiple lines. Instead of being auto-assigned a geographic number based on your cabinet location (often not memorable), you can request a specific local number, freephone number (0800), or non-geographic number (0333).
For small businesses, custom numbers improve customer perception (looking larger, more established) and enable internal phone routing—separate lines for sales, support, and billing. Cost is typically £5–£15/month per additional line.
Offering free WiFi to customers and employees is increasingly expected—especially for cafes, agencies, retail, and co-working spaces. Business broadband packages typically include guest WiFi network (separate from secure internal network) at no extra cost or £10–£20/month as add-on.
Guest WiFi improves customer experience and foot traffic (research shows customers stay longer in businesses offering free WiFi). Employee satisfaction increases for flexible working. Cost-benefit for customer-facing businesses is usually positive; for back-office operations, guest WiFi is lower priority.
Home broadband assigns dynamic IP addresses (changes periodically). Business broadband includes static IP (fixed address, never changes) as standard or low-cost add-on (£5–£10/month).
Static IP is essential if you run: CCTV systems (cameras access your office remotely), mail servers (receiving business email from specific address), VPN (remote staff accessing office systems), website hosting, or remote desktop access. Without static IP, these systems break every time your address changes.
For small businesses not running servers or remote systems, static IP is less critical but still valuable for simplifying troubleshooting and vendor integrations.
FTTC uses fibre cables to your local street cabinet, then copper "last mile" from cabinet to your premises. This is the most common business broadband technology—infrastructure already exists in 95%+ of UK locations.
Speed: Download up to 76Mbps, upload up to 19–20Mbps. Actual speed depends on distance from cabinet (speed reduces ~10% per 100 meters beyond 300 meters). Call your provider to confirm expected speeds at your postcode before committing.
Reliability: Shared copper last-mile means peak-hour contention is possible (7pm–11pm slowdowns of 10–30% are common). No guaranteed uptime unless you pay for premium SLA add-on. Acceptable for non-critical operations; risky for revenue-dependent businesses.
Cost example: BT Unlimited Infinity FTTC = £34.40/month (22Mbps download, 3Mbps upload, unlimited data, guest WiFi, 24/7 support). Premium FTTC packages with static IP and SLA = £50–£60/month.
Best for: Budget-conscious small businesses with 5–15 staff, non-critical operations, locations where FTTP/leased lines unavailable.
FTTP uses fibre end-to-end from exchange to your premises—no copper "last mile," no contention on shared infrastructure. Speeds up to 300–1,000Mbps in covered areas. Ofcom reports FTTP now reaches ~70% of UK premises as of late 2025, expanding rapidly in suburban areas.
Speed: Download up to 300Mbps (gigabit FTTP available in select areas), upload up to 50–100Mbps. Speeds are consistent regardless of time of day or neighborhood usage—genuinely higher reliability than FTTC for peak-hour performance.
Reliability: FTTP includes better SLA terms than FTTC (typically 99.9% vs. 99.5%) and lower probability of contention. Still shared fibre trunk to exchange (unlike leased lines), but contention is rarer than FTTC.
Cost example: Hyperoptic 100Mbps FTTP = £35/month. BT 200Mbps FTTP = £66/month. FTTP premium over FTTC is modest (20–50% higher cost for 3–5x speed increase).
Best for: Growing small businesses (10–25 staff) needing higher speeds without leased line commitment. Available in cities/suburbs; rural availability still limited.
Leased line is dedicated fibre connection from data center to your premises—fibre is yours alone, no sharing, no peak-hour contention. Symmetric speeds from 10Mbps to 10Gbps in both directions. Automatic failover and 99.9%+ SLA with financial penalties for breaches.
Speed: Guaranteed dedicated speed (100Mbps leased line always delivers 100Mbps, regardless of time of day or neighborhood demand). Upload matches download (symmetric), enabling sustained high-bandwidth workflows.
Reliability: Gold standard. Automatic SLA credit if any downtime occurs. Direct engineer support, proactive monitoring, and rapid response (sub-2-hour dispatch typical). Single point-of-failure risk exists, but redundancy options (dual leased lines with automatic failover) provide enterprise-grade resilience.
Cost example: CityFibre 100Mbps leased line = £260–£350/month. BT 100Mbps leased line = £370–£420/month. 1Gbps leased lines = £437–£1,000+/month depending on provider.
Installation: 6–8 weeks versus 2–4 weeks for FTTP. Contract: 36 months typical with early exit penalties. This is infrastructure commitment, not consumer broadband.
Best for: Revenue-critical small businesses (professional services, healthcare, SaaS startups, high-frequency traders) where downtime risk exceeds £500/hour. Businesses requiring sustained high upload (media production, cloud backup). Operations requiring guaranteed performance across peak hours.
Choose FTTC if: Budget is absolute constraint (£30–£50/month), downtime is tolerable (development, backup connectivity), non-critical operations, speed is sufficient for team size (5–10 staff).
Choose FTTP if: Speed matters for productivity (10–20 staff, cloud-native workflows), moderate budget (£50–£100/month), available in your area, can tolerate occasional peak-hour slowdowns, SLA matters moderately.
Choose leased line if: Revenue depends on uptime (every hour of downtime costs £500+), sustained high-bandwidth workflows (media production, cloud backup), guaranteed performance is insurance investment, 36-month commitment is acceptable, budget allows (£260–£1,000/month).
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) makes phone calls over your internet connection using cloud-based phone system instead of traditional copper phone lines. Rather than separate "voice" line (landline) and "data" line (broadband), VoIP combines both over single connection.
Benefits for small businesses:
Lower setup cost: No hardware installation, no line rental to Openreach—just cloud subscriptions. Monthly cost: £5–£20/user versus £15–£30/line for traditional phone lines.
Flexibility: Employees can take business number on mobile phone, laptop, or any device. Work from home, office, client site—same phone number and call history.
Integration: VoIP integrates natively with Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Slack, HubSpot—call logs and voicemail attach to customer records automatically. Traditional phone systems require manual integration.
Scalability: Add new users instantly (new employee starts, provision new VoIP user in 5 minutes). Traditional phone lines require Openreach technician visit (weeks, £50–£100).
Unified voicemail/transcription: Voicemails transcribed to email automatically. Video call + screen share + phone call unified in Teams.
Most small business VoIP providers offer usage-based and unlimited plans:
Vonage Business Ultimate: £16/user/month, unlimited calls (landline + mobile), includes conferencing and voicemail transcription. For 5-person team = £80/month; for 10-person team = £160/month.
Skype for Business (Teams): Included free with Microsoft 365 Business Standard (£11/user/month). Phone add-on: ~£5/user/month for PSTN calling.
CircleLoop PAYG: £4.99/month base + per-call charges (~£0.01–£0.05/minute). For light usage (20–30 minutes/month), cost ~£5–£10/month. For heavy usage (200+ minutes), cost climbs to £20+/month.
Integrated provider bundles: Some broadband + VoIP bundles exist (rare). BT Business offers broadband + phone (traditional landline + VoIP options) combined; Vonage integrates with Superfast fibre packages in some regions.
Traditional business phone line: £15–£20/month + installation + Openreach technician visit if changes needed.
VoIP system (5-person team, Vonage): £80/month + no installation, instant scaling, full integration with business apps = better productivity.
Break-even: VoIP pays for itself through productivity gains (faster call handling, integrated customer data, flexibility) within 2–3 months. For most small businesses, VoIP ROI is clear—switching is simply whether to invest upfront in transitioning systems.
VoIP quality depends on broadband stability and speed. Minimum: 2Mbps dedicated bandwidth for one simultaneous call. Recommended: 5–10Mbps per concurrent call user to avoid call degradation during heavy broadband usage.
If your broadband connection drops, VoIP becomes unavailable. This is why 4G Assure (automatic 4G backup if broadband fails) is valuable when running VoIP—losing phone during internet outage is unacceptable for business communication.
For small businesses considering VoIP, ensure your broadband SLA and backup strategy are solid before committing to VoIP-only phone system.
BT Business: Largest UK business broadband provider, FTTC/FTTP/leased line options. Pricing £30–£70/month FTTC/FTTP, £195–£500+/month leased lines. Support 24/7 commercial team.
TalkTalk Business: Mid-tier pricing (5–15% below BT typically). FTTC/FTTP availability similar to BT. Support standard business hours + some 24/7 SLA options.
Virgin Media Business: Cable network (different infrastructure than BT/OpenReach fibre). 350–500Mbps speeds at £40–£60/month in covered areas. Patchy coverage outside cities. Support standard business hours.
Vodafone Business: FTTP specialist in some regions. Pricing competitive with BT. Integrated 4G backup through Vodafone mobile network in some areas.
AMVIA: UK-based expert provider. FTTP packages (static IP included, 99.9% SLA, direct UK support, 90-second response guarantee). Pricing £80–£150/month FTTP, £260–£1,000+/month leased lines. Specialist in VoIP integration and Microsoft 365 bundles.
XLN: Small business specialists. Fibre broadband + unlimited calls bundled. Pricing competitive with major carriers (£35–£50/month). Focus on simplicity and cost optimization.
CityFibre: Infrastructure owner in many UK regions. Often cheapest leased line pricing (£260–£350/month 100Mbps). FTTP speeds at competitive rates in covered areas. Limited support network (check availability).
AMVIA's free business broadband finder compares 50+ providers at your postcode. Enter speed requirement, location, and contract term; receive quotes from all available providers within 24 hours sorted by price and SLA terms.
For leased lines specifically, use AMVIA's leased line finder to identify which providers serve your location and compare pricing.
Manual approach: contact 3–5 providers directly with identical specifications (your postcode, desired speed, contract length, required features). Compare quotes received; note which include SLA, support hours, and feature inclusions.
Rough estimate: 10Mbps per 5 staff members for typical office operations (email, cloud apps, video calls). 5 staff = 10Mbps sufficient. 15 staff = 30Mbps recommended. 25 staff = 75Mbps minimum. Add 30% buffer for peak concurrent usage and future growth.
If you run media production, daily large file backups, or sustained video conferencing, add 50% to estimate. Creative agency with 10 staff and heavy file uploads = 30Mbps + 50% buffer = 45Mbps minimum (choose 76Mbps FTTC or 100Mbps FTTP plan).
Required if: running CCTV, mail server, VPN, remote desktop access, or website hosting. Not required if: all systems use cloud SaaS (Teams, Salesforce, Google Workspace) and no remote server access needed. If unsure, request static IP—cost is typically £5–£10/month and eliminates future friction.
Sometimes. If your provider owns infrastructure in your area (BT owns most UK infrastructure), upgrade is possible mid-contract with notice. If provider must third-party source FTTP/leased line, cost/timeline may be prohibitive mid-contract. Always confirm upgrade path before committing to initial contract.
Check Ofcom's FTTP checker to confirm rollout timeline. If FTTP arriving within 12 months, consider waiting or negotiating provider early upgrade commitment. If FTTP unavailable indefinitely, choose FTTC if budget-constrained, or leased line if reliability is priority. FTTC is adequate for most small businesses; leased line is investment, not necessity, unless downtime risk is material.
Pros: Single bill, simplified support, potential bundle discount (5–10% savings). Cons: Vendor lock-in (switching requires migrating all services), potential service degradation if one component fails affects others.
Recommendation: Bundle broadband + phone with one provider for simplicity. Add VoIP separately (Vonage, Skype for Business, Slack phone) for flexibility—if you switch broadband providers, VoIP continues uninterrupted (tied to cloud, not ISP). This hybrid approach balances convenience and flexibility.
Run AMVIA's free broadband finder to identify available providers and pricing at your location. Calculate your actual bandwidth needs (number of staff × 2–3Mbps per person + buffer). Call 0333 733 8050 to speak with AMVIA experts about optimal package for your business profile (staff size, operations, downtime risk). Most small businesses move to new connectivity within 2–4 weeks with zero downtime during migration.
Business broadband is foundational infrastructure for small business productivity. Choosing based only on monthly price misses material differentiators—SLA guarantees, support response times, upload speed, and feature inclusions directly impact daily operations and revenue protection.
For most small businesses (5–20 staff), FTTC (£30–£50/month) is starting point; FTTP (£60–£100/month) becomes necessary as team scales and demands grow. VoIP integration simplifies phone systems and reduces costs. Adding 4G backup or static IP addresses addresses specific operational needs at marginal cost.
Before committing to contract, calculate downtime cost for your business. If one-hour outage costs £0 (development environment), FTTC is rational choice. If one-hour outage costs £1,000+ (retail, professional services), FTTP + SLA guarantee is insurance worth purchasing. If one-hour outage costs £5,000+ (SaaS platform, healthcare), leased line redundancy becomes strategic necessity.
Use expert comparison tools to benchmark all available options at your location. Then calculate total cost of ownership including downtime risk—not just monthly rate. The difference between choosing correctly and choosing based on price alone often amounts to tens of thousands of pounds over contract term.
Ready to find your optimal small business broadband? Use AMVIA's free finder tool, download our complete connectivity guide, or call 0333 733 8050 for expert guidance. No voicemail. No delays. Just transparent pricing and expertise aligned with small business success.
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