Business Leased Lines: Dedicated, Uncontended Internet

If you are weighing connectivity options, start with our business leased lines pillar overview, then check whether FTTP, EAD, or alternative-network fibre suits your site below.

What is an FTTP leased line?

An FTTP (fibre to the premises) leased line is a private, dedicated internet circuit carried over Openreach's full-fibre infrastructure. Unlike shared broadband, the bandwidth is yours alone — uncontended, symmetric, and backed by a contractual service level agreement covering uptime and fault repair.

The difference from consumer FTTP broadband matters. Both arrive on full fibre, but a leased line guarantees the throughput you pay for around the clock, where consumer FTTP is best-effort and shared. For background on the technology, read what is a leased line.

• Symmetric speeds — upload matches download, 100Mbps to 1Gbps
• Uncontended — no sharing with 20–50+ other users
• SLA-backed — 99.99% uptime with automatic service credits if missed
• Low latency — typically under 10ms within the UK for VoIP and cloud apps

How is FTTP different from a traditional EAD leased line?

FTTP leased lines run over Openreach full fibre, while EAD (Ethernet Access Direct) circuits are delivered over dedicated point-to-point fibre paths. Both give you symmetric, uncontended, SLA-backed bandwidth — but FTTP is usually faster to install and cheaper for equivalent speeds where Openreach fibre already reaches your site.

If you need 10Gbps, multi-site routing, or build-anywhere reach, EAD or SD-WAN may fit better. For most single-site SMEs in a fibre area, FTTP delivers the same guarantees for less.

Why do UK businesses need an FTTP leased line?

Downtime is expensive and shared broadband makes it likelier. A leased line removes contention, guarantees throughput, and puts repair times in a contract — so a peak-hour slowdown or an unexplained outage stops costing you staff hours, sales, and cloud access.

UK businesses lose an estimated £3.7bn a year to internet failures (Beaming, 2023). Against that, a guaranteed circuit is cheap insurance. It also fixes the throughput gap: the UK average broadband download speed is just 69.4Mbps (Ofcom Connected Nations 2024), whereas an FTTP leased line gives guaranteed symmetric speed up to 1Gbps.

• Cloud and Microsoft 365 — fast, symmetric upload keeps backups and Teams HD video reliable
• VoIP quality — low latency and minimal jitter keep calls clear; pair it with a hosted phone system
• Resilience — SLA-backed fix times, with optional backup connectivity for failover
• Growth headroom — scale bandwidth without re-cabling

Leased line vs business broadband — what's the real difference?

Business broadband shares one connection across many users on a best-effort basis, so speeds drop at peak times. An FTTP leased line is contended by no one: you get 100% of your provisioned, symmetric bandwidth 24/7, plus a financially backed uptime guarantee broadband never offers.

For a side-by-side breakdown, see leased line vs business broadband. The short version: broadband suits low-stakes browsing; a leased line suits any business that depends on the cloud, VoIP, or guaranteed availability. If you want a private, secure path for multiple offices, look at dedicated internet access.

How long does an FTTP leased line take to install?

Where Openreach fibre is already in place, FTTP leased line installation typically takes 20–45 working days — noticeably faster than the 45–90 working days a general leased line or EAD build can need. Rural sites or those needing civil works sit at the longer end.

A typical install runs through four stages:

1. Site survey — a surveyor confirms the fibre route and whether civil works are needed (week 1–2) 2. Wayleave — legal permissions if fibre crosses third-party land; the most common source of delay (week 2–6) 3. Civil engineering — engineers run fibre from the exchange to your building where required (week 4–10) 4. Go-live — the circuit is terminated, tested against the SLA, and handed over (week 10–12)

How much does an FTTP leased line cost?

A 100Mbps leased line typically costs £69–£320/month depending on location, because pricing varies street by street with distance to the nearest fibre aggregation point. For most businesses that is less than the cost of a single serious outage.

The only way to know your exact price is a postcode check. AMVIA compares 15+ UK carriers and shows transparent breakdowns — install fees, monthly cost, and any excess construction charges — before you commit. Going direct to one carrier only ever shows you their pricing; comparison makes them compete.

Why choose AMVIA for your FTTP leased line?

AMVIA Limited is registered with Ofcom as a communications provider, with BT-trained network engineers and 15+ years of carrier infrastructure experience. We are a security partner first, so your connectivity is delivered by a team that also runs your Microsoft 365 and security stack — one accountable provider.

• Independent comparison — 15+ UK suppliers quoted for your exact postcode, no hidden charges
• Direct UK engineers — call 0333 733 8050 for UK-based, BT-trained engineers; no offshore call centres
• Same speeds, lower prices than going direct to BT or Virgin
• Cyber Essentials Plus certified — AMVIA protects over 1,200 UK businesses, with security built into how we deliver connectivity

That security-first stance is why connectivity, voice, and Microsoft 365 sit better under one provider than three — one accountable team for the whole estate.