Business Broadband Guide: Getting a New Line Installed

When Do You Need a New Broadband Line?

There are several scenarios in which a business needs a genuinely new broadband line rather than a contract switch on an existing line:

• Moving to a new office premises with no existing broadband provision
• Opening an additional site that has never had business internet access
• Upgrading from FTTC to FTTP, which requires a new physical fibre installation even if the premises has had broadband before
• Installing a leased line as the primary circuit at a location previously served only by broadband

The key difference from a product switch is that a new physical installation is required — a new cable must be run to the premises, and in many cases new equipment installed inside the building.

Step 1: Check What Is Available at the Address

Before placing any order, confirm what types of connection are available at the specific premises. Not all connection types are available everywhere:

• FTTC: Available at the majority of UK commercial premises
• FTTP: Available at an increasing number of premises as Openreach, CityFibre and altnets extend their rollouts
• Leased lines: Available at virtually all UK commercial postcodes, though installation cost varies

Run an availability check against the specific address — not just the postcode — for the most accurate result. AMVIA's multi-network checker returns all available options in one query.

Step 2: Choose the Right Connection Type

The choice between FTTC, FTTP and leased line depends on three factors: how many people are using the connection, what they are doing with it, and how much downtime the business can tolerate.

• Small offices (up to 5 staff) with light cloud use: FTTC or entry-level FTTP
• Growing offices (5-25 staff) with regular cloud applications and VoIP: Business FTTP (100-500Mbps)
• Larger offices or businesses where downtime has material operational impact: Leased line with SLA

Step 3: Place the Order

Once you have selected a provider and product, the order triggers a survey or provision process. For FTTC and FTTP on the Openreach network, this involves Openreach scheduling an installation visit. For leased lines, a survey of the build route is conducted before a firm installation date is given.

Key timing considerations:

• FTTC new line: 1-3 weeks from order to activation
• FTTP new installation: 2-4 weeks (can be longer where civil works are required)
• Leased line new installation: 30-60 working days, sometimes longer for complex builds

Step 4: Prepare the Premises

Before the installation visit, businesses should:

• Confirm where the router and network equipment will be located
• Ensure there is a free power socket and network port at the installation point
• Confirm access arrangements — who will be present during the installation visit
• For leased lines, identify where the network termination equipment (NTE) will be installed inside the building

Step 5: The Installation Visit

For FTTC, the Openreach engineer connects the line at the external master socket and tests the connection. For FTTP, additional work is typically required to run fibre from the external termination point into the building. This usually involves drilling a small entry hole and routing fibre to the required location.

For leased lines, the installation is more involved: the engineer installs a network termination unit (NTU) at the premises, runs cabling, tests the circuit end-to-end, and hands over connection details. Plan for the engineer to be on-site for 2-4 hours.

Step 6: Configuration and Go-Live

Once the physical line is active, a router needs to be configured to authenticate against the new connection. For FTTC and FTTP, most providers supply a pre-configured router; for leased lines, the provider supplies a CPE (customer premises equipment) device or you supply your own with provider-supplied configuration details. Confirm that your firewall, VPN and any other dependent systems are updated with the new connection details before going live.