Guide to Leased Lines
1 WHAT IS A LEASED LINE?
The term ‘leased line’ refers to a dedicated connection that allows communication between two sites (a point‐to‐point leased line) or between a site and the Internet (an internet leased line).
Leased lines typically deliver bandwidth over a leased fibre connection, although copper local tails can sometimes be used as well.
Leased lines are considered a premium connectivity product because unlike various broadband services leased lines are dedicated, uncontended data lines with symmetrical bandwidth speeds. With dedicated lines, users can get higher speeds of service and a higher service level guarantee.
2 WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A LEASED LINE?
More bandwidth – leased lines can deliver between 2Mbit/s to 1,000Mbit/s of connectivity to most UK businesses, and up to 10Gbit/s in some urban locations.
Consistent speeds – your bandwidth is reserved exclusively for your use, so you can experience a consistently high data throughput at all times – even during peak usage periods.
Fast upload speeds – leased lines are symmetrical, meaning you get the same high speed upstream as you get ownstream. This is ideal for VoIP, terminal services, online data backup, video conferencing, server hosting and the sending of large files.
Unlimited data transfer – you can use your connection flat out, all the time. You can do whatever you like with it (subject to the law). There are no extra charges if you go over some arbitrary monthly usage quota. No‐one’s going to slow down your connection if you exceed an unspecified ‘fair usage’ limit. And no‐one’s going to throttle particular types of traffic on your connection.
Business‐class support – you won’t have to sit in a queue for 40 minutes being told by a recorded message that ‘your call is important.’ Instead, you should receive responsive, proactive support 24/7 from technically‐knowledgeable professionals.
3 LEASED LINE V ADSL – WHAT ARE THE DRAWBACKS?
Cost – leased lines are more expensive than ADSL connections… though it’s arguable that this is not the case if you look at the actual guaranteed bandwidth pound for pound.
Longer contracts – 3 to 5 year contracts are standard. This is typically done to spread the costs of high performance fibre services. Shorter contracts are available but will probably require setup costs.
Longer installation times – typically 30‐65 working days.
4 WHY DO LEASED LINES COST MORE THAN ADSL & WHAT WILL I GET FOR MY MONEY?
You’ll get guaranteed throughput – most ADSL connections are contended, meaning that only a fraction of the bandwidth you buy can be guaranteed. Few ADSL customers use their connections at the same time, so under‐provisioning of capacity goes largely unnoticed, most of the time. However, at peak times, the demand for bandwidth far outstrips supply causing ADSL customers’ connections to slow down markedly.
Leased lines don’t have this problem. Their providers are guaranteed the use of the full volume of bandwidth they purchased, and a consistent throughput at all times. Providers don’t need to apply ‘traffic shaping’ – the practice whereby consumer ISPs deliberately slow down some traffic at peak times to reduce the visibility of their backhaul bottlenecks.
Unlimited connections cost more than capped, traffic‐shaped connections – most Internet leased lines have no cap on the amount of data you can send and receive, they have no ‘fair usage’ limit, there are no excess charges if you use them too much, and if you use them to the full your connection speed won’t be cut at all.
Contended ADSL connections, in contrast, always come with usage limits, fair usage policies, over‐quota charges, traffic shaping, connection throttling or limits created by the inadequate provision of backhaul capacity.
Symmetric connections require more expensive technology – ADSL is asymmetric. In other words, it’s fast downstream, but slow upstream. Leased lines are fast in BOTH directions, so require pricier networking equipment and more upstream capacity.
You’ll get a high‐spec router – one that’s more reliable and capable than the cheap & basic models sent out by ADSL providers.
Business‐class support isn’t cheap – leased line providers have a higher number of support staff per customer. This makes it easier for customers to get through to talk to a human, and gives staff the time to be proactive – fixing problems that customers haven’t yet noticed. Leased lines often come with 24/7 support, which is expensive to provide, as it involves manning a help desk for 168 hours every week.
Fibre is ultra‐reliable, but it’s a hassle to install – most leased lines are delivered over fibreoptic cables, not over copper circuits. Fibre delivers the best reliability, the lowest latency, the greatest scalability and the fastest circuit fix times. But these benefits come at a cost: the carrier may have to dig up roads and pavements, appease local highway authorities and get permission from landlords. Often, these hurdles make it more expensive and time‐consuming for carriers to install fibre than to install copper.
5 HOW MUCH WILL MY LEASED LINE COST ME?
The price of a leased line varies considerably depending on the locations involved, the bandwidth required, the length of the contract and several other factors.
Key factors that determine leased line prices:
The closer you are to carriers’ existing networks, the cheaper your leased line will be. This Location is because it’s very expensive to dig up pavements and roads.
The more bandwith you want the more your leased line will cost. As a rough rule of Bandwith requirement thumb, if you increase the bandwith ten-fold, the cost will more than double.
The longer your contract, the lower the installation fee. For example, Epoq IT offers free Contract length installation on 3 year contracts whereas 2 year deals have an installation charge, and 1 year deals have a higher installation charge.
In any given location, some carriers will be cheaper than others. If you express a Carrier preferences preference for or against a particular carrier, this can have cost implications, in that it may force your provider to use a more expensive supplier.
If you’re worried about the impact of downtime on your business, you can choose to add additional resilience (and expense) by adding a backup connection. The cheapest and Resilience requirements most popular choice is an ADSL connection. A more symmetric alternative is to add a leased line from a different carrier, but be aware that this adds significant cost.
Internet Access The more Internet access you want, the more it will cost, however the cost per Mbit/s will requirements fall the more you buy.
The quickest way to find out how much a leased line is likely to cost you is to contact us:
01494 444065, [email protected], www.epoq-it.co.uk
6 HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO INSTALL MY LEASED LINE?
Most leased lines use fibre‐optic circuits that take around 65 working days to install.
In some locations, copper circuits may be an option. These use spare phone lines that are already in the ground and they can be activated in around 30 working days.
Factors that may speed up your installation:
• Fibre is in the building – your circuit provider has already installed spare fibre in to your building’s main communications room.
• Carrier has already been granted a wayleave – your circuit provider has already been granted a ‘wayleave’ allowing it to install, access and maintain equipment in your building, without having to ask your landlord for permission every time.
• You own the building – you can grant the carrier its wayleave.
Factors that my slow down your installation:
• Unhelpful landlords – some landlords refuse to grant carriers the permission they need to install and access a circuit. Some landlords demand that a different path be used, or that the carrier agree to extremely onerous conditions.
• Lack of spare capacity locally – for example… no spare backhaul capacity at the local exchange or node, full ducts or not enough spare copper circuits.
• Long digs – if your location is too far from carriers’ existing networks, they may be forced to dig up many metres of road or pavement to connect you up.
7 … BUT ANOTHER SUPPLIER PROMISES ME THEY CAN INSTALL MY LEASED LINE FASTER!
There will always be salesmen who will tell you what you want to hear.
They know that by the time your ‘promised’ delivery date is missed, you’ll have already signed the contract, and it’ll be too late to order afresh from a more honest supplier.
If you cannot wait 3 months for a fibre leased line, consider getting an EFM copper circuit (EFM stands for Ethernet in the First Mile). If you cannot wait 6 weeks for an EFM circuit, consider using ADSL as a stopgap. If you cannot wait 2 weeks for an ADSL line, consider delaying your move.
EFM Copper circuits can normally be installed twice as quickly as fibre. But they do have some drawbacks; they are available in fewer locations; their maximum connection speed is 35Mbit/s or less; they are slightly less reliable than fibre and in some locations they can be more expensive.
8 WHAT DO I GET WITH A LEASED LINE SUPPLIED THROUGH EPOQ IT LTD?
• FREE installation – on all 3, 4 or 5 year contracts • FREE router • 24/7 Support – phone and email support from our UK Network Operations Centre, manned by technical specialists • Proactive monitoring – our Network Operations Centre is automatically alerted in the event that your circuit goes down. • 99.9% SLA – guaranteeing network availability • IP Addresses – as many as you require (subject to RIPE justification and availability).