Business Broadband Guide: Getting a New Line Installed

A new line is not the same as a contract switch. A switch reuses the cable already feeding your building; a new install means a physical circuit has to be provisioned, and sometimes built, to your premises. That distinction drives the timescale, the cost and the planning you need to do. This guide walks the whole process for business broadband, full-fibre and leased-line connections, and shows where the delays usually hide.

When do you actually need a new broadband line?

You need a genuinely new line — not a product switch — whenever the premises has no usable circuit for the service you want. That covers a move to an unconnected office, a brand-new site, an FTTC-to-FTTP upgrade that needs fresh fibre, and any leased line installed where only broadband existed before.

The most common triggers:

• Moving to a new office with no existing broadband provision
• Opening an additional site that has never had business internet — often the point to consider multi-site connectivity from day one
• Upgrading from FTTC to FTTP, which needs a new physical fibre run even if the building has had broadband before
• Installing a leased line as the primary circuit where the site was previously served only by broadband

In every case a new cable has to reach the building, and frequently new equipment is fitted inside it. That is why a new install carries a lead time a switch never does.

How do you check what is available at the address?

Before you order anything, confirm which connection types reach the specific premises — not just the postcode. Availability varies street by street, even building by building, as Openreach, CityFibre and alternative networks extend their footprints at different speeds across the UK.

What is typically on offer:

The UK's full-fibre and gigabit rollout is tracked publicly by the telecoms regulator Ofcom, which reports coverage in its Connected Nations updates. Run a checker against the exact address for an accurate result — AMVIA's multi-network checker returns every available option in one query rather than one carrier's view.

How do you choose the right connection type?

Choose on three things: how many people use the connection, what they do with it, and how much downtime the business can absorb. Light browsing and email tolerate FTTC; cloud applications and voice want full fibre; operations where an outage stops revenue need a leased line with a guaranteed fix time.

A practical rule of thumb:

• Up to 5 staff, light cloud use: FTTC or entry-level FTTP
• 5–25 staff, regular cloud apps and VoIP: business FTTP at 100–500Mbps
• Downtime has material operational impact: a business leased line with an SLA

If you are weighing fibre broadband against a dedicated circuit, our explainer on what a leased line is sets out the difference in contention, symmetry and fix-time guarantees. The headline: broadband is shared and "best efforts"; a leased line is dedicated, symmetrical and contractually backed.

What happens when you place the order?

Placing the order triggers a survey or provision process rather than an instant connection. For FTTC and FTTP on the Openreach network the order schedules an engineer visit; for leased lines a survey of the build route runs first, and a firm installation date follows only once that route is confirmed.

Typical order-to-activation timescales:

These are typical UK 2026 ranges, not guarantees. Civil works — digging, wayleaves, traffic management — are the single biggest cause of slippage, and they sit with the network builder, not the provider. Build that contingency into your go-live date from the start.

How should you prepare the premises before the visit?

Preparation removes the avoidable delays. Before the engineer arrives, decide where the kit lives, make sure power and access are ready, and confirm who will be on site with authority to approve internal work such as drilling or cable routing.

A short pre-install checklist:

• Confirm where the router and network equipment will sit
• Ensure a free power socket and network port at the install point
• Confirm access — who lets the engineer in and signs off internal work
• For leased lines, identify where the network termination equipment (NTE) will be fitted inside the building

Getting this wrong is the second most common cause of a failed or rebooked visit after carrier delays. A ten-minute walk-round before the day saves a fortnight of rescheduling.

What happens during the installation visit?

The visit depends on the technology. FTTC is quick — the engineer connects at the external master socket and tests. FTTP needs fibre routed from the external termination point into the building, usually a small entry hole and an internal run. A leased line is the most involved and the engineer is typically on site for two to four hours.

For a leased line the engineer installs a network termination unit (NTU), runs the cabling, tests the circuit end-to-end and hands over the connection details. Because the circuit is dedicated, that end-to-end test matters — it is what backs the SLA you are paying for. Make sure someone signs the handover and keeps the connection details safe.

How do configuration and go-live work?

Once the physical line is live, a router or CPE has to authenticate against the new connection before traffic flows. FTTC and FTTP providers usually supply a pre-configured router; leased lines come with customer premises equipment (CPE) or your own device set up with the provider's details. Update every dependent system before you cut over.

Critically, treat go-live as a security event, not just a connectivity one. Confirm your firewall, VPN and remote-access rules are updated for the new connection and that nothing is exposed during the swap. The NCSC's network security guidance is the right reference for hardening the perimeter as you move. One provider handling both the circuit and the security around it removes the gap where misconfigurations creep in — security-first, Microsoft-certified, one accountable team.

Can you avoid a connectivity gap while you wait?

Yes. A 4G or 5G router gives temporary internet access while a fixed line is provisioned, and can usually be deployed within a day or two on a short-term arrangement. For a new site that needs to trade immediately, a 5G business mobile connection bridges the gap until the permanent circuit goes live.

This is the standard play for office moves where the lead time on full fibre or a leased line would otherwise leave staff offline. Order the permanent line early, run mobile broadband in parallel, and switch over cleanly once the fixed circuit passes its end-to-end test.