The Complete Guide to Comparing Leased Line Costs in 2025

Why Leased Line Comparison Is More Complex Than Broadband

Comparing broadband packages is relatively straightforward: the products are broadly standardised, pricing is transparent, and the main variable is the monthly cost. Leased line comparison is considerably more nuanced. The same 100Mbps circuit from two providers at the same postcode may differ in SLA tier, installation approach, contract flexibility, and total five-year cost — making a monthly price comparison insufficient on its own.

This guide sets out a structured approach to leased line comparison that accounts for all the relevant variables, so you can identify not just the cheapest quote but the best-value quote for your specific requirements.

Step 1: Define Your Requirements Before Requesting Quotes

The first step in any leased line comparison is to specify your requirements clearly and consistently. Quote requests with vague specifications produce incomparable responses. Before approaching any provider, define:

• Speed: What bandwidth do you need? Build in headroom for growth — order for your expected peak in 36 months, not your current level.
• Contract term preference: Are you more comfortable with 36 or 60 months? Request both and compare the total cost.
• SLA requirement: What is the maximum acceptable fault resolution time? If a full-day outage would cause serious damage, specify an enhanced SLA (4–6 hour MTTR) rather than accepting a standard one.
• Resilience requirement: Do you need a secondary circuit or a 4G failover? Include this in the comparison from the outset.
• Installation deadline: If you have a specific go-live date (lease expiry, office move, contract transition), communicate this — installation lead times vary by network and may affect provider selection.

Step 2: Run a Multi-Network Availability Check

A postcode-level availability check identifies which physical networks can serve your site and provides pre-survey indicative pricing. For most UK business postcodes, this check covers:

• Openreach (available at the widest range of postcodes)
• CityFibre (available in 285+ towns and cities)
• Virgin Media Business (urban and suburban coverage)
• Tier 2 carriers (Zayo, Colt, GTT — significant presence in major city centres)

The availability check results show which providers can reach your building and at what approximate cost. This creates the shortlist for formal site surveys.

Step 3: Obtain Post-Survey Firm Quotes

Pre-survey estimates are indicative; post-survey quotes are binding. Once a shortlist of two or three providers is identified from the availability check, commission site surveys from each. The survey confirms the exact civil works required and produces a firm price that the provider cannot change at installation.

Request that all surveys be completed before making any commitment. This takes additional time — typically 4–8 weeks — but avoids the common problem of accepting a low pre-survey estimate that increases substantially after the survey.

Step 4: Build a Total Cost Comparison

When you have post-survey firm quotes from multiple providers, build a comparison that covers:

• Monthly rental: The ongoing monthly cost
• Installation charge: One-time charge at contract start (may be zero)
• Contract length: 36 or 60 months
• Total contract cost: (Monthly rental × months) + installation
• SLA tier: MTTR and uptime commitment
• Renewal terms: What is the price at renewal? Is there auto-renewal?

A simple example illustrates why total cost matters:

• Provider A: £300/month × 36 months + £500 installation = £11,300 total
• Provider B: £270/month × 60 months + £0 installation = £16,200 total

Provider B is cheaper per month but costs £4,900 more over the respective contract periods. Whether that matters depends on your specific situation — but the comparison is invisible without doing the calculation.

Step 5: Compare SLA Quality Carefully

SLA terms are more variable than they appear. Key questions when comparing SLA documents:

• Is the MTTR measured from fault report or from engineer dispatch? A 5-hour MTTR starting from the time the engineer is dispatched (rather than when you reported the fault) could mean 8+ hours in practice.
• Is the SLA window 24/7 or business hours only? A 6-hour MTTR that only applies during business hours provides no coverage for faults arising outside those hours until the next working day.
• What is the service credit for SLA breaches? Credits range from a day's rental to a month's rental depending on the provider and the severity of the breach.
• Does the SLA cover planned maintenance windows? Some providers exclude maintenance windows from SLA calculations, which can be significant for circuits with frequent scheduled maintenance.

Step 6: Evaluate Provider Relationship

Beyond the quantitative comparison, the provider relationship matters. Key questions:

• Who is the single point of contact for escalations?
• What is the process for reporting faults and tracking resolution progress?
• What is the provider's track record on fault resolution — not just the headline SLA?

AMVIA manages the leased line comparison process for UK businesses, running multi-network availability checks, coordinating site surveys, and presenting post-survey firm quotes in a standardised comparison format. For businesses approaching renewal, we run the comparison against the incumbent renewal offer to identify whether the market has moved and whether switching is worthwhile.