Leased line vs business broadband.
An honest comparison of leased line against business broadband (FTTP, FTTC) for UK businesses — speeds, contention, SLA, cost, install times, and when each is genuinely the right choice. Not a sales pitch for either.
What we hear every week.
The frustrations behind why businesses search for leased line vs business broadband in the first place. If any of these feel familiar, the fix is straightforward.
Paying for leased line when broadband would do
Plenty of UK SMEs sign up for leased line because somebody sold them on 'SLA uptime' without modelling the actual downtime cost vs the price gap. Often FTTP plus failover delivers similar real-world resilience at a fraction of the cost.
Stuck on broadband when leased line is justified
Conversely — operations where downtime hurts genuinely (manufacturing, financial services, healthcare) sometimes scrape by on broadband and then experience the cost of unplanned outages.
Marketing makes both sound essential
Leased-line marketing emphasises SLA and uncontended bandwidth. Broadband marketing emphasises 'business-grade' even at consumer prices. The reality varies — context matters.
Install timescales force the decision
Leased line takes 60-120 working days. Broadband is 10-15 days. If you need connectivity next month, leased line isn't the answer regardless of operational fit.
Honest comparison: leased line vs business broadband
**Leased line (typically Openreach Ethernet, CityFibre Business Ethernet):** symmetric speeds 10Mbps-10Gbps, latency 5-15ms, **uncontended** (your bandwidth is yours), **SLA-backed uptime 99.95-99.99%** with service credits, install 60-120 working days, monthly £200-2,000+. **Business broadband (FTTP, FTTC):** speeds 40Mbps-1.8Gbps (FTTP), 40-80Mbps down with much smaller upload (FTTC), latency 5-15ms (FTTP) or 10-25ms (FTTC), **contended at carrier wholesale layer** (shared but with business-grade ratios), **best-effort uptime** (no SLA credits typically), install 10-15 days (FTTP) or 5-10 days (FTTC), monthly £30-150. **The honest question:** what does an hour of unplanned downtime actually cost your operation? If it exceeds the annual leased-line uplift over broadband, leased line earns its keep. If not, broadband plus failover gives most of the operational outcome at much lower total cost.
The Telexico approach to leased line vs business broadband.
Six things our customers consistently tell us matter.
Right-tool-for-the-operation guidance
We assess your downtime cost, your bandwidth profile, your operational risk — and recommend honestly.
Both deployed via Telexico
Whichever fits, we deploy and manage — Openreach Ethernet for leased line, Openreach/CityFibre for FTTP, FTTC where FTTP isn't viable yet.
Hybrid setups where they make sense
Some businesses run FTTP primary plus leased line backup; some run leased line primary plus FTTP backup; some run dual leased lines. We design around the resilience requirement.
Realistic 3-year cost comparison
We model total cost (install + monthly × 36 + support) so you compare like-for-like, not month-one.
SLA reality check
We translate carrier SLA into what it actually means — credits, fix times, escalation. Marketing 99.99% doesn't always equal operational 99.99%.
One provider for whichever fits
Leased line, FTTP, FTTC, or hybrid — single Telexico relationship, single bill, single support number.
Built around UK business operational risk
The right choice depends on what downtime actually costs. A 10-person solicitor with 4 hours of broadband downtime: inconvenient, some productivity lost, recoverable. Same downtime at a 200-bed hospital: dangerous. Same at a financial trading floor: catastrophic. The connectivity tier should track operational risk — not industry default or carrier marketing. We help you do the maths honestly.
How it works for businesses like yours.
Three real-world setups we deliver across the UK.
Most UK SMEs: FTTP plus failover
Professional services, retail, hospitality, small-medium operations where short outages are tolerable — FTTP gives the speed, failover gives the resilience.
Regulated and uptime-critical: leased line
Healthcare, financial services, large multi-site, regulated firms — SLA uptime and documented compliance justify the cost.
Manufacturing and 24/7 operations: leased line plus failover
Production where downtime stops the line, e-commerce where revenue stops — leased line primary, FTTP or Starlink failover for genuine path diversity.
Why UK businesses trust Telexico's honest comparison
We deploy both — and we recommend honestly based on the operation. UK-based managed infrastructure provider, Wolverhampton-headquartered. One provider for FTTP, leased line, failover, phones, WiFi, AI receptionist and CCTV.
What you actually get from Telexico.
Honest about scope. No aggressive sales tactics, no surprise renewal jumps, no tier-1 call-centre triage. Real UK engineers, transparent pricing, one provider relationship across the stack.
UK-based provider
Wolverhampton-headquartered. Engineers cover the West Midlands daily; UK-wide install via our partner network. Real UK engineer support, UK data residency, UK contractual relationship — not US-routed SaaS.
Real engineer support
When you call Telexico, you reach someone who can actually fix things. Response SLA backed by real engineering capacity rather than call-centre headcount. Named account manager for ongoing customers.
Free infrastructure review
Every engagement starts with a no-obligation audit of your current setup. Honest recommendation — sometimes that's "stay with your current provider after negotiation." We'd rather be honest than oversell.
Transparent pricing
What you sign for is what you pay — including renewal. No teaser pricing that jumps 30-100% at year two. No mid-contract CPI shock. Predictable multi-year cost from day one.
One provider, one platform
Broadband, hosted VoIP, business WiFi, AI Receptionist, 4G/5G failover, CCTV consolidated onto one Telexico relationship. Single bill, single support number, single engineer when something needs attention.
Migration project-managed
Switching to Telexico isn't DIY. We handle contract audit, notice timing, ordering, parallel running, cutover, old-provider close-out. Customer-visible disruption typically measured in minutes.
Tailored around your business.
Tell us what you have now and what's frustrating you. We'll come back with a tailored review of where we can simplify, consolidate or improve it — no fixed-package pressure, no hard sell.
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Business Broadband cost
Indicative UK pricing for business broadband — what affects the price, ranges, and a free tailored review.
Leased Lines cost
Indicative UK pricing for leased lines — what affects the price, ranges, and a free tailored review.
Free infrastructure review
Send us your current setup. We'll review what you have, what you pay, and where we can simplify.
Frequently asked questions
Is leased line always better than business broadband?
Better at SLA uptime and uncontended bandwidth — yes. But for most UK SMEs, the operational difference is small and the cost difference is large. FTTP plus failover often delivers similar real-world resilience at a fraction of the cost.
When does leased line genuinely earn its keep?
When the cost of an hour of downtime exceeds the annual leased-line uplift over FTTP. Manufacturing where production stops, healthcare where patients are affected, financial services where regulation matters, large multi-site where consistent SLA is operational.
How much more does leased line cost?
FTTP typically £40-150/month; leased line typically £200-1000/month at equivalent speeds, much more at higher tiers. Install: FTTP £150-500; leased line £1,500-15,000 depending on civils. Over 3 years the total cost gap can be £10,000-50,000+ — material for SME budgets.
What about install time?
FTTP typically 10-15 working days; leased line 60-120 working days, sometimes longer where civils are required. Lead time alone often decides which is feasible for the business need.
Can I move from leased line to FTTP later if my operation changes?
Yes — and several Telexico customers have done so. Cost saving is meaningful; resilience needs to be replaced with proper failover. We model both sides honestly when the time comes.
Can I run FTTP plus a backup leased line?
Yes, but the maths usually doesn't work — paying for both negates the cost benefit of either. More common: leased line primary plus FTTP or Starlink failover (cheaper backup); or FTTP primary plus 4G/5G/Starlink failover (cheap resilience). Dual leased lines is genuine enterprise resilience for the few operations that justify it.
How do I figure out my downtime cost?
Rough back-of-envelope: average hourly revenue × confidence-loss multiplier (typically 1.5-3x for customer-facing operations). For a £500k/year retail unit operating 60 hours/week, hourly revenue ~£160; outage cost £250-500 per hour. Multiply by typical UK outage hours/year to get annual exposure. Then compare to the leased-line vs FTTP cost gap.
Apply this to your business?
Reading the guide is one thing; applying it to your specific operation is another. Send us your current setup — we'll review what you have, what fits, and where to start. No hard sell, no fixed-package pressure.