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A leased line provides your business with a dedicated, uncontended internet connection that delivers guaranteed symmetrical speeds and 99.9% uptime backed by financial SLAs.
Unlike shared broadband where performance fluctuates during peak hours, a leased line gives you the full bandwidth you pay for—24/7, with identical upload and download speeds ranging from 100Mbps to 10Gbps.
This means your cloud backups complete faster, video conferences stay crystal clear, and business-critical applications run without interruption—even when everyone else in your area is online.
For UK businesses relying on cloud services, VoIP phone systems, or multi-site connectivity, leased lines transform internet access from a potential bottleneck into a competitive advantage. You'll speak directly to UK-based technical experts at AMVIA on 0333 733 8050—no voicemail, no offshore call centers—who understand your infrastructure and resolve issues within hours, not days.
A leased line is a dedicated, uncontended internet connection exclusively for your business. Unlike shared broadband, it delivers guaranteed symmetrical speeds (100Mbps-10Gbps), 99.9% uptime with financial SLAs, and consistent performance regardless of peak hours or neighboring users—making it essential for cloud services, VoIP, and mission-critical operations.
A leased line—also known as dedicated internet access (DIA) or an ethernet leased line—is a private, point-to-point data connection between your business premises and your internet service provider's network. Unlike business broadband, which shares bandwidth among multiple users in your area, a leased line is exclusively yours. This dedicated connection ensures consistent performance regardless of how many neighbouring businesses are online, making it the gold standard for organizations that cannot tolerate connectivity disruptions.
The technology uses fibre optic cables to deliver symmetrical bandwidth, meaning your upload speeds match your download speeds. This means when your team uploads large design files to cloud storage at 9 AM while simultaneously downloading client data and hosting video conferences, every activity gets the full speed you need—no compromises, no slowdowns.
According to Ofcom data from 2025, virtually all UK households have access to broadband, but businesses requiring guaranteed performance increasingly turn to leased lines for mission-critical operations. Major financial firms, legal practices, healthcare providers, and technology companies rely on leased lines to maintain productivity and meet regulatory compliance requirements.
Standard broadband delivers asymmetrical speeds—fast downloads but limited uploads. This means when your finance team tries uploading quarterly reports to your accountant while marketing downloads campaign assets and sales runs a video demo for prospects, everything slows to a crawl. Upload speeds as low as 10-20Mbps create bottlenecks for cloud backups, file sharing, and video conferencing—activities that define modern business operations.
Leased lines provide symmetrical bandwidth where uploads match downloads. Whether you're transferring 100GB of design files to clients, backing up your entire server to the cloud, or hosting a company-wide video conference, you get consistent, predictable performance. For businesses using Microsoft 365, cloud-based CRM systems, or VoIP phone systems, symmetrical speeds eliminate the frustration of waiting for uploads while others monopolize your limited bandwidth.
This means your cloud backup window shrinks from overnight to hours. Video conferences deliver HD quality without freezing or pixelation. Large file transfers to clients complete in minutes, not hours—projecting professionalism and responsiveness that wins business.
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Leased line providers guarantee 99.9% to 99.995% uptime through contractual SLAs. This translates to maximum downtime of approximately 8.8 hours per year at 99.9% or just 26 minutes annually at 99.995%. If your provider fails to meet this commitment, you receive automatic service credits—financial compensation without negotiation.
Compare this to broadband's "best effort" approach where outages bring no guarantees for repair times or compensation. According to Beaming's 2023 research, UK businesses experienced 8.8 million internet failures costing £3.7 billion in lost productivity and revenue. For businesses where downtime means missed transactions, failed client deliveries, or regulatory breaches, leased line SLAs provide contractual protection.
Your provider monitors your circuit 24/7, often detecting and resolving issues proactively before they impact your operations. When faults occur, guaranteed 4-6 hour fix times with priority engineering response minimize disruption. This means your team stays productive while your provider handles the problem—no lengthy downtime, no frustrated clients waiting for responses.
At AMVIA, you speak directly to UK-based technical experts at 0333 733 8050 who understand your infrastructure, provide transparent updates, and take ownership of resolution. No voicemail. No ticket queues. No offshore support reading from scripts.
Modern business operations run in the cloud. Microsoft 365, Salesforce, cloud accounting software, backup solutions, and collaboration tools all demand consistent connectivity with low latency and minimal packet loss. VoIP phone systems require even stricter network conditions: latency below 150ms, jitter under 30ms, and packet loss under 1% to maintain call quality.
Leased lines' dedicated, low-latency connections excel at supporting these demanding applications. Symmetrical speeds ensure cloud uploads and downloads proceed simultaneously without competition. Uncontended bandwidth means your VoIP calls remain crystal clear even when multiple team members transfer large files. Consistent low latency (typically under 10ms within the UK) keeps real-time applications responsive.
This means your team collaborates seamlessly in Microsoft Teams with HD video and screen sharing. Cloud backups complete during business hours without impacting other activities. VoIP calls maintain professional audio quality—no robotic voices, awkward delays, or embarrassing call drops during client conversations.
According to Cisco and industry VoIP standards, jitter exceeding 30ms and latency above 150ms degrade call quality noticeably. Business broadband's variable performance and congestion make meeting these thresholds inconsistent. Leased lines' dedicated architecture ensures your communications infrastructure performs reliably.
Business broadband shares bandwidth among 20-50+ users in your area through contention ratios. This means during peak hours (9-11 AM, 2-5 PM), when neighboring businesses run video conferences, download updates, and access cloud applications, your connection slows significantly. You're competing for capacity you're supposedly paying for.
Leased lines eliminate contention entirely. Your circuit is yours alone—dedicated, private, and unaffected by others' usage. Whether it's 9 AM Monday when everyone logs in or 2 PM Friday when competitors experience peak congestion, you get 100% of your provisioned bandwidth.
This means your team's productivity remains constant regardless of external factors. Customer-facing applications—your website, client portal, or e-commerce platform—deliver consistent performance during your busiest periods when competitors struggle with slowdowns. Real-time applications like VoIP and video conferencing maintain quality without dropouts or delays caused by network congestion.
Your connectivity needs evolve as your business grows. Leased lines scale from 100Mbps to 10Gbps without replacing infrastructure. This means when you expand from 20 to 50 employees, open a second office, or migrate more applications to the cloud, you upgrade bandwidth rather than ripping out and replacing your entire connection.Most providers allow incremental bandwidth increases (e.g., from 100Mbps to 200Mbps, then 500Mbps, eventually 1Gbps). This flexibility lets you right-size your connectivity as needs change, avoiding overpaying for capacity you don't need yet while maintaining a clear growth path.This means your infrastructure investment remains relevant for years. When your competitor outgrows their broadband and faces a complete connectivity overhaul, you simply scale your existing leased line—maintaining continuity, avoiding disruption, and controlling costs.
Max 52min annual downtime
4–8 hours standard, defined by SLA
<10ms UK, <50ms global
<5ms (VoIP), <2ms (video)
<0.1% for voice, <0.01% for video
from 100Mbps up to 10Gbps+
Leased line pricing varies significantly based on bandwidth, location, contract length, and installation complexity. Understanding these cost drivers helps you budget accurately and identify opportunities for savings.
Entry-level 100Mbps leased lines suit small to medium businesses with 10-20 employees using cloud applications, email, and moderate file transfers. Installation costs typically range from £1,000-£2,500 for standard deployments.
Many providers waive installation fees on 36-month contracts in areas with existing fibre infrastructure. Rural locations or sites requiring extensive civil engineering may incur excess construction charges (ECCs) ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds.
London businesses benefit from market-leading competition, with 100Mbps leased lines typically ranging from £175 to £234 per month. Dense fibre coverage ensures lower ongoing costs and often reduced or waived installation fees for standard urban deployments.
Bristol-based businesses can expect to pay from £250 to £275 per month for 100Mbps leased lines. Competitive local markets and modern fibre access help keep prices accessible for firms needing guaranteed performance.
100Mbps leased lines in Birmingham range from £240 to £280 per month, supported by established infrastructure and a growing digital sector. Businesses benefit from predictable pricing and short lead times for installation.
In Manchester, a 100Mbps leased line usually costs between £242 and £318 monthly, reflecting strong fibre availability but slightly higher charges than London. Multiple suppliers and urban density keep these rates competitive for most city-based firms.
Rural businesses should budget £220 to £320+ per month for a 100Mbps leased line, with costs impacted by longer distances to fibre exchanges and complex civil works. Installation often incurs additional charges and lead times are typically longer than in urban areas.
1Gbps connections provide enterprise-grade performance for 50+ employees, heavy cloud usage, frequent video conferencing, and regular large file transfers.
1Gbps leased lines represent the sweet spot for many growing businesses—offering 10x the bandwidth of 100Mbps for roughly 2x the cost. This bandwidth supports Microsoft 365 for entire teams, cloud-based phone systems, continuous cloud backups, and simultaneous video conferences without performance degradation.
Urban leased line prices benefit from dense fibre infrastructure, with typical monthly costs ranging from £300 to £450 for a 1 Gbps connection. Businesses in cities like London often see the most competitive rates due to multiple suppliers and minimal installation fees.
Suburban leased line prices are slightly higher, with monthly charges usually between £350 and £50 for 1 Gbps, reflecting moderate fibre availability and increased infrastructure costs as you move away from city centers. Installation fees may vary depending on proximity to network exchanges, but many providers still offer discounted or waived fees for longer term contracts.
Rural leased line prices incur the greatest premium, with costs for 1 Gbps connections typically ranging from £400 to £650 per month and installation charges often remaining even on extended contracts due to complex civil works. Businesses in rural locations should expect longer installation timelines and thorough upfront surveys to clarify potential excess construction charges.
Ultra-high-speed 10Gbps connections serve large enterprises, data centres, media companies handling 4K/8K video, and organisations with hundreds of simultaneous high-bandwidth users.
London businesses benefit from competitive pricing, with specialised providers like Vorboss offering disruptive 10Gbps and 100Gbps pricing for organizations with extreme bandwidth requirements.
Your distance from the nearest network exchange point significantly impacts costs. Central London locations with existing fibre infrastructure typically see lower installation costs and monthly fees. Rural businesses or sites far from exchange points may face excess construction charges for extending fibre connections.
Standard leased line contracts run 36 months. Longer commitments (36-60 months) often include waived installation fees and reduced monthly costs. Shorter contracts (12-24 months) typically carry higher monthly fees and full installation charges.
Standard installations where fibre reaches your building incur minimal costs. Complex scenarios—requiring road excavation, wayleave agreements with landlords, or routing through multiple properties—add significant expenses through ECCs.
Premium SLAs guaranteeing 99.95%-99.99% uptime, 4-hour fix times, and enhanced support cost more than standard 99.9% agreements. Financial services, healthcare, and organizations with regulatory requirements often select premium SLAs despite higher costs.
Different carriers serve different areas with varying pricing. BT and Virgin Media offer nationwide coverage at consistent (often higher) pricing. Alternative providers like CityFibre, Vorboss, and independent carriers offer competitive pricing in their coverage areas, particularly in major cities.
AMVIA compares 50+ suppliers to secure the best pricing for your specific location and requirements. You'll receive transparent cost breakdowns showing installation fees, monthly costs, and any potential ECCs before committing—no surprises, no hidden charges.
Understanding the installation process helps you plan effectively and avoid delays that could leave you without connectivity during critical business periods.
Typical Installation Timeline: Leased line installation typically takes 45-90 working days from order to activation. Simple installations in well-connected urban areas may complete in 30-45 days, while complex rural deployments can extend to 90+ days.
Most leased line providers guarantee 99.9% to 99.995% uptime.
This translates to:
99.9% uptime: Maximum 8.8 hours downtime annually (43 minutes monthly)99.95% uptime: Maximum 4.4 hours downtime annually (22 minutes monthly) 99.995% uptime: Maximum 26 minutes downtime annually
If your provider fails to meet uptime commitments, you receive automatic service credits proportional to the downtime experienced.
SLAs specify how quickly providers must respond to reported faults. Premium SLAs guarantee responses within 1 hour and on-site engineer attendance within 2-4 hours. Standard SLAs typically commit to 2-hour responses with 4-6 hour fix targets.
Providers commit to resolving faults within specified timeframes, typically 4-6 hours for business-grade leased lines. If repairs exceed these targets, additional service credits apply.
Most leased line providers guarantee 99.9% to 99.995% uptime.
Enterprise-grade SLAs guarantee network performance metrics critical for VoIP and real-time applications:
Latency: <10ms within UK, <50ms to major European hubs
Jitter: <5ms for voice traffic
Packet loss: <0.1%
Quality SLAs include round-the-clock technical support with guaranteed response times. This means when faults occur at 2 AM Sunday, engineers respond immediately—not Monday morning when you've already lost revenue.
SLAs specify automatic service credit calculations when performance falls below guaranteed levels. Credits typically range from 5-10% of monthly fees per SLA breach, with caps ensuring providers remain financially accountable.
Guaranteed Fix Times, Not Just Response Times
Some providers guarantee fast responses but offer no commitments for actual repairs. Prioritize SLAs specifying maximum fault resolution times with financial penalties for failures.
24/7 Support Availability
Ensure your SLA includes genuine 24/7 technical support, not just office hours assistance. Faults don't wait for Monday morning.
Proactive Monitoring
Leading providers monitor circuits continuously, often detecting and resolving issues before you notice. Confirm your SLA includes proactive monitoring rather than reactive-only support.
Transparent Compensation
Understand exactly what compensation you'll receive for SLA breaches. Automatic credits applied to future bills provide better protection than vague "good faith" arrangements requiring negotiation.
AMVIA provides clear, transparent SLAs with 99.9% uptime guarantees, 4-hour fault resolution targets, and automatic service credits when commitments aren't met. You'll speak directly to UK-based technical experts at 0333 733 8050 who take ownership of issues and provide regular status updates—no ticket systems, no offshore call centers, no automated responses.
If your team reports sluggish performance between 9-11 AM and 2-5 PM—peak hours when broadband contention affects speeds—you're losing productivity to shared bandwidth. This means your staff wastes time waiting for cloud applications to respond, large files to upload, or video conferences to stabilize rather than completing billable work.
Cloud backup success depends entirely on upload bandwidth. If your backups start at 6 PM and still run when staff arrive at 8 AM, or if they're failing to complete backup windows, asymmetrical broadband speeds are the bottleneck. This means you're operating without complete, current backups—a significant data loss risk if systems fail or ransomware strikes.
VoIP requires consistent low latency and jitter to maintain call quality. If clients mention audio issues, your team complains about robotic voices, or calls frequently drop, broadband's variable performance is damaging your professional reputation. This means you're projecting unreliability to clients and prospects during your most important touchpoint—conversations that win or lose business.
Multi-site connectivity requires reliable, consistent performance at every location. If you're expanding to additional offices, enabling secure remote access for distributed teams, or implementing SD-WAN for hybrid connectivity, leased lines provide the dependable foundation these architectures require.
Calculate your true downtime cost by considering lost revenue, staff productivity, customer satisfaction, and reputation damage. Beaming research found UK businesses lose an average of £3.7 billion annually to internet failures, with financial losses beginning within 6 hours of outages for most companies. If a single day's downtime costs more than several months of leased line fees, guaranteed uptime pays for itself.
Financial Services and Professional Practices
Law firms, accountancies, and financial advisors handle sensitive client data requiring secure, reliable connectivity. Leased lines support encrypted client portals, secure file sharing, cloud-based practice management systems, and consistent VoIP quality for client consultations. Guaranteed uptime ensures regulatory compliance and maintains client trust during time-sensitive transactions.
Healthcare and Medical Practices
GP surgeries, dental practices, and private clinics rely on leased lines for electronic health records, appointment systems, secure patient communications, and video consultations. Guaranteed performance ensures patient care continuity and compliance with NHS Digital and ICO requirements for data protection.
E-Commerce and Retail
Online retailers depend on leased lines to maintain website availability during peak trading periods, process transactions reliably, and manage inventory systems connecting physical and online operations. Symmetrical bandwidth supports product photography uploads, customer communications, and integration with fulfillment partners.
Manufacturing and Distribution
Manufacturers use leased lines to connect production sites, integrate ERP systems, enable real-time supply chain visibility, and support IoT sensors monitoring equipment performance. Reliable connectivity prevents production disruptions and enables just-in-time delivery models.
Technology and Software Companies
Development teams require leased lines for rapid code deployments, continuous integration pipelines, cloud infrastructure management, and client demonstrations. Symmetrical speeds support large git repository synchronization, Docker image uploads, and video client communications.
Leased line costs range from £175-£350 monthly for 100Mbps in urban areas, £300-£650 for 1Gbps, and £550-£1,200+ for 10Gbps. Pricing varies based on location, with London typically offering the most competitive rates and rural areas incurring higher costs due to extended infrastructure requirements.
Typical installation requires 45-90 working days from order to activation. Urban locations with existing fibre infrastructure may complete in 30-45 days, while rural sites or complex installations requiring civil engineering work can extend to 90+ days. Starting the process 3 months before your required go-live date avoids delays.
Leased lines provide dedicated, uncontended connections with symmetrical speeds and 99.9% uptime SLAs. Fibre broadband shares bandwidth among multiple users (contention), delivers asymmetrical speeds, and offers no guaranteed uptime. Leased lines cost more but guarantee performance regardless of network congestion or time of day.
Yes, leased lines scale from 100Mbps to 10Gbps without replacing infrastructure. Most providers support incremental bandwidth upgrades as your needs grow, allowing you to right-size connectivity over time without costly infrastructure replacement.
Yes, leased line SLAs guarantee 99.9% to 99.995% uptime with financial compensation if providers fail to meet commitments. This translates to maximum downtime of 8.8 hours annually at 99.9% or 26 minutes annually at 99.995%. Business broadband offers no such guarantees, operating on a "best effort" basis.
Your provider monitors circuits 24/7 and typically detects faults proactively. SLAs guarantee 4-6 hour fault resolution with financial penalties if repairs exceed targets. Engineers prioritize your repair, often fixing issues before significant business impact occurs.
Yes, though rural installations typically cost more and take longer due to extended fibre runs from the nearest exchange. Excess construction charges (ECCs) may apply for significant civil engineering work. AMVIA assesses rural availability and provides transparent cost estimates including any ECCs before you commit.