There are many options when it comes to business broadband. Broadband via a leased line is just one option of the many business broadband offers available, and can seem tempting with dedicated, exclusive supply to your business, high speeds and promises of 100% uptime with quick-fix guarantees. But is leased line broadband right for your business?
What exactly is leased line broadband?
A leased line for your broadband is your very own fibre line from the (BT) exchange, to your premises. It’s yours alone and not used by any other business or resident. This means that your service is not contended by any other users at any other time. A leased line has fixed bandwidth, which will not fluctuate during any ‘peak’ times and offers identical upload and download speeds. There is also very low ‘latency’ with a leased line, which means hardly any ‘lag’ before data is uploaded and downloaded. You can also pick your package, i.e. select the speed you need, usually from 10 Mbps to 10Gbp, and the term of your contract, usually between three and five years.
Why would my business need a leased line?
If your business is going to suffer due to any loss of connectivity then the comfort of 100% uptime is appealing. The speeds that a leased line offers are also beneficial to businesses with a large number of users. But it’s also the functions that your business carries out that may warrant a leased line over other types of broadband. If, for instance, you send large amounts of data all the time, make a lot of VoIP calls and run data-hungry applications such as Office 365. If you have hundreds of people needing to connect constantly, and run a very large website, it is likely that you would benefit from a leased line.
Cost
As a broadband option, a leased line is not going to be the cheap option. But there are packages worth exploring dependant on your number of users and the speed you require. Fix times may be another area where you can get a cheaper package. There are also costs to consider with regard to installation and groundworks required, but these are usually covered in your package costs.
There’s no doubt that you will have some numbers to crunch when it comes to weighing up the pros and cons of leased line broadband. There are many other business broadband options worth exploring too if cost is an issue, but with the guaranteed uptime, and high-level service of a leased line, especially if you run a large, data-rich business, a leased line might be your perfect broadband solution for ultimate peace of mind.
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