Are Leased Lines Right for You?

In this modern era, a typical business can barely survive without the use of the internet. A very small percentage of business are not reliant upon the internet, and even fewer could ever function efficiently without it. As a consequence of this dependence, a safe, reliable and fast internet connection has become a necessity for every business in the industry. Due to the many different options available, many owners have began considering investing into a leased line.

 

What is a Leased Line?

A leased line can easily be understood as a private communication channel that connects multiple sites. This service contract exists between a customer and a provider. Providing a dedicated tunnel from which data can continuously flow for a fixed monthly fee, leased lines can be used for internet connections, data service or even telephone services. These leased lines typically operate on fiber optic cables to ensure a large bandwidth and high speed at all times, making it highly suitable for businesses.

 

A Leased Line: Explained

To be even more specific, a leased line is less of a dedicated physical connection but more like a reserved circuit that operates between two points and is accessible at all times. Unlike traditional internet services that reuse the same circuit through switching, a leased line ensures that a single circuit has been reserved for data transfer for a specific company. Typically rented by large corporations, leased lines have the ability to connect multiple sites that consistently require fast connection.

Leased lines are usually provided by large telecommunication service providers and is considered to be quite expensive, even for businesses. While the alternative to a leased line can be a public network, there can be even higher costs such as security protocols when using such methods to ensure high levels of privacy and security.

 

Why A Leased Line?

As a business, you may consider investing into a leased line but need concrete benefits that you will be able to enjoy. Below are two of the most significant benefits of leased lines:

  1. Service Level Agreements (SLAs): A very important advantage of leased lines are service level agreements that decide the minimum level of service or compensation that you will be provided with from your agency. These will carefully outline the levels of compensation that will be offered if a fault happens to occur. Therefore, if your business ever faces an issue regarding their internet connections, you can be aware of the compensation that you are set to receive. This is unlike other service providers, who only provide limited compensation even in the occurrence of a fault.
  2. High Upload Speeds: Upload speeds tend to be very significant for businesses. While domestic internet providers will be able to provide high download speeds, leased lines tend to offer identical levels of download and upload speeds. Since this determines how quickly you send data, the higher this value is, the more efficient your work process will be.

Due to the advantages that leased lines offer to businesses, there is a significant price difference as compared to other internet service providers. Typically, a leased line is set to cost you more than £100/month. If you’re looking to purchase a leased line, you can always compare leased line costs and make sure you receive the best price with the best deal.