Written by Julia Watts Reviewed by Heleana Neil Updated on 18 January 2023 On this page Best leased line providers TalkTalk Colt BT Virgin Media Neos Networks Vodafone Best for small businesses Best for speed Best for reliability Compare prices Broadband vs. leased line Get leased line quotes Verdict FAQs Expand TalkTalk is the best leased line provider for small businesses, while Colt boasts the fastest connection speeds, and BT offers unparalleled reliability. But we’d also recommend looking into Virgin Media, Neos Networks, and Vodafone.The best leased line provider for one business may not be right for another, so it’s always worth comparing all the options. Backed by extensive research and our 10+ years of experience in helping businesses find the right services, the info and reviews on this page will help! What are the best leased line providers? TalkTalk – Best for small businessesColt – Best for speedBT – Best for reliabilityClick any of the links above to find the right leased line provider for your business. The best leased line providers Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Best for small businesses TalkTalk Best for speed Colt Best for reliability BT Virgin Media Neos Networks Vodafone Customer score 4.4 Customer score 2.9 Customer score 1.6 Customer score 1.2 Customer score Not yet rated Customer score 1.6 Price £90 – £243+ per month Price Available on request Price £195 – £300+ per month Price £270 per month – bespoke Price Available on request Price £255 – £875+ per month Connection speed Up to 10Gbps Connection speed Up to 100Gbps Connection speed Up to 10Gbps Connection speed Up to 10Gbps Connection speed 10Mbps – 10Gbps Connection speed 10Mbps – 10Gbps Fault repair time 5 – 7 hours Fault repair time From 4 hours Fault repair time Within 5 hours Fault repair time Within 6 hours Fault repair time Unspecified Fault repair time Unspecified Installation time 45 – 90 days Installation time 45 days Installation time 45 days (forecast available on request) Installation time 60 days Installation time Unspecified Installation time Usually 100+ days Save by comparing free leased line prices Do you need a leased line for your business? Yes No Answer a few questions – it only takes a minute TalkTalk TalkTalk 4.4 Trustpilot customer score Pricing £90 – £243+ per month Get free quotes TalkTalk review Quick overview If you're looking for a leased lines supplier that offers excellent value for money, TalkTalk is a great shout. With entry level EoFTTC options available from £90 per month, TalkTalk boasts some of the cheapest leased lines on the market (certainly the cheapest on this list). Plus, it waives installation fees on its longer contracts, which is a nice bonus. It's worth being aware that TalkTalk's cheaper lines don't offer incredibly fast speeds, reaching 20Mbps max. But if your business is on the smaller side, this may be all you need. Read more + Read less - Strengths Get a free EoFTTC backup line with some leased lines Customer service is available 24/7 No installation fees on most 36-month contracts Offers short 12-month contracts Excellent customer reviews Weaknesses Cheaper lines have slower fault repair times than other providers, at up to seven hours Installation can be slower than with other providers Only starting prices are shared, we can't advise on what the upper cost limits are Pricing See more See less EoFTTC Ethernet over fibre to the cabinetEFM Ethernet first mileDedicated leased line From £90 per month Speeds of up to 20Mbps From £165 per month Speeds of up to 20Mbps From £243 per month Speeds of up to 10Gbps Colt Colt 2.9 Trustpilot customer score Pricing Available on request Quick overview Colt's reputation for speed precedes it, with breakneck connection speeds of up to 100Gbps available on its leased lines – in fact, it's the only supplier on this list to top a 10Gbps maximum speed. It also sits towards the faster end of the installation spectrum, with estimated installation times currently sitting around 45 days. Unfortunately, Colt doesn't share its price plans publicly, so it's difficult to work out how much it'll cost your business. But we do know that Colt offers money-back credits if it doesn't meet your SLA (service level agreement), which is a tick in its favour. Read more + Read less - Strengths Customer support is available 24/7 Online reporting shows your bandwidth usage and service availability Gives you some money back if your SLA (service level agreement) isn't met Fault repair time of 4+ hours is good... Weaknesses ...but Colt doesn't share its maximum repair time Pricing isn't publicly available for you to compare BT BT 1.6 Trustpilot customer score Pricing £195 – £300+ per month Quick overview Once upon a time, BT was the only company you could get a leased line from. Now, it faces increasing competition, but continues to hold its own as the biggest player in the UK leased lines market. While not the cheapest supplier, its leased lines are still competitively priced, starting from £195 per month for a generous 100Mbps line. We also appreciate BT's commitment to delivering on its promises: BT does a rare thing in aiming for 100% uptime in its SLA (service level agreement), so if there's an outage, you can claim service credits back. You can also do that if your leased line isn't fully installed by the completion date set. Read more + Read less - Strengths Will cover up to £2,800 in construction charges during installation Its cheapest lines come with a generous maximum speed of 100Mbps UK-based customer support is available 24/7 Weaknesses Very low Trustpilot customer score Contracts don't appear to come shorter than 36 months Only starting prices are shared, we can't advise on what the upper cost limits are Pricing See more See less BTnet ExpressBTnet From £195 per month Speeds of up to 100Mbps From £300 per month Speeds of up to 10Gbps Note You’ll notice lots of the customer scores on this page are pretty low – we’re talking less than two out of five.It’s worth keeping in mind that the customer scores we’ve shared are for each company’s business services arm (if they have one), which includes leased line provision among other services – so the reviews aren’t just for leased lines services. This is because customer scores and reviews for individual leased line services are very difficult to come by at this point in time.We’ve included these scores to give you a general idea of how each company fares with its business customers, but bear in mind that they include ratings for other services as well as leased lines. Virgin Media Virgin Media 1.2 Trustpilot customer score Pricing £270 per month – bespoke Quick overview Virgin Media certainly has its faults as a leased line supplier, but there are also several reasons to recommend it. For example, the company can offer a dedicated account manager to be your point of contact, and we're also fans of its 60-day rolling contract model, which offers excellent flexibility where most providers would tie you into a more rigid arrangement. Virgin Media's add-ons are also worth looking into – inlcuding its built-in cloud-based cybersecurity solution, and the extra 50Mbps connection you can add to your existing site or set up at a new place. Read more + Read less - Strengths Communicate with your own account manager Get Cisco cybersecurty built in for extra secure hybrid working Add on 12 phones or tablets for your team 60-day rolling contracts available Weaknesses Worst Trustpilot customer score on this list More expensive than TalkTalk and BT Slower installation times than other suppliers (but not the slowest) 99.85% service availability is lower than others Pricing See more See less 100Mbps1GbpsUp to 10Gbps From £270 per month From £550 per month Bespoke Neos Networks Neos Networks Pricing Available on request Quick overview Formerly known as SSE Enterprise Telecoms, Neos Networks is the telecoms arm of the SSE Group, one of the UK's "big six" energy providers. As you can imagine, it boasts one of the largest networks in the UK, making it worth a look for your business's connectivity. Unfortunately there are a few things you won't be able to compare straight off the bat, as Neos doesn't publicly declare factors like its pricing, installation times, and fault repair times. But sources say Neos' SLA offers some competitive benefits. Read more + Read less - Strengths SLA is reported to be competitive Bandwidth is simple to scale Weaknesses Pricing isn't publicly available for you to compare Very few online customer reviews available to read Vodafone Vodafone 1.6 Trustpilot customer review Pricing £255 – £875+ per month Quick overview Vodafone's leased lines service may not be perfect (its lengthy installation times, in particular, are often derided by customers), but as one of the largest networks in the UK, it's worth checking out. Vodafone offers a variety of scalable price plans, with prices depending on how much bandwidth you need and whether or not you want a fully managed service. It also offers some useful add-ons, such as added DDOS protection for enhanced security, and adaptable throughput payments. Read more + Read less - Strengths Lots of different scalable price plans on offer Customer support is available 24/7 Customise your customer support level to suit your needs and budget Weaknesses Has some really poor customer reviews More expensive than TalkTalk, BT, and Virgin Media Installation is often reported to take longer than expected Pricing See more See less Wires only Excluding VAT. On a 36-month contractFully managed Excluding VAT. On a 36-month contract From £255 per month 50Mbps From £275 per month 50Mbps From £290 per month 100Mbps From £310 per month 100Mbps From £510 per month 500Mbps From £775 per month 500Mbps From £610 per month 1Gbps From £875 per month 1Gbps Save by comparing free leased line prices Do you need a leased line for your business? Yes No Answer a few questions – it only takes a minute The best leased line supplier for small businessesOur top pick for small businesses is TalkTalk, for a handful of reasons.First and foremost, with prices starting at £90 per month for an entry level EoFTTC line, this company offers some of the cheapest leased lines on the market – an important consideration for small ventures.There’s also the fact that TalkTalk Business has attracted some excellent customer reviews (the best of all the providers on this list, in fact), which praise the company’s “helpful staff” and “great service”. Prompt and obliging customer support can prove invaluable when you’re new to a particular service or technology, so the fact that TalkTalk’s business services arm is good at this should be reassuring to small teams.To learn more, check out our TalkTalk leased lines review. The best leased line supplier for speedColt is the best leased lines provider for lightning-quick connection speeds, and for obvious reason: it can offer speeds of up to 100Gbps, where most of its competitors offer maximum speeds of 10Gbps.To put this in context, home broadband speeds average at around 10Mbps. 10Gbps is 1,000 times faster than 10Mbps, which is already a significant improvement – but 100Gbps is 10,000 times faster than your average home broadband.Now, this super speed definitely won’t be necessary for all businesses, but if you run a large team that spends a lot of time on bandwidth-heavy work like hosting complex websites, sharing big files, and running company-wide video meetings, it could be just what you need. The best leased line supplier for reliabilityIf reliability is your top priority, we recommend longstanding leased line supplier BT.Uniquely, BT’s target service availability is 100% (most providers settle between 99.95% and 99.99%), which means it commits to never dropping your connection, ever. If your connection does fail, BT will provide you with money-back credits.BT also aims to fix faults within five hours – which is definitely at the speedier end of the spectrum. Plus, BT’s UK-based customer support team is available to help no matter what time or which day of the week it is, as it’s active 24/7. Compare leased line pricesAs you can see from the price plans on this page, monthly leased line prices can range from £90 to well over £800. These costs will depend on your connection speed, the type of leased line you go for (EoFTTC, EFM, or full fibre), the length of your contract, the add-ons you choose, the location of your business (major cities tend to be cheaper), and more.Installation costs are also a consideration, ranging from completely free to thousands of pounds.A bit overwhelmed by all these numbers and options? If you’d like to get an accurate idea of how much a leased line will cost for your business, we can help with our easy and free quote-finding tool. Simply answer a few questions about what your team needs, and we’ll match you up with the best leased line suppliers for you, who’ll be in touch with tailored, no-obligation quotes and answers to your questions. It’s simple, quick, and totally free. Comparison: broadband vs. leased lineThis is the key question: why get a leased line when broadband is so readily available? Well, the answer becomes clear when you compare the two closely. Let’s take a look at the key differences:BroadbandLeased linesContended vs. uncontendedBroadband operates on a contended network – this means your bandwidth is shared with other local organisations and workplaces, resulting in slower speeds and even outages at peak times.Leased line networks are uncontended. Your bandwidth is allotted to be used by your business alone, so you shouldn’t suffer slower speeds or outages at any point.Symmetric vs. asymmentricBroadband speeds are asymmetric – download speeds are much faster than upload speeds.Leased line connection speeds are symmetric, or synchronous – your download and upload speeds are the same, which is better for the kinds of tasks businesses use the internet for.Connection speedBroadband is typically much slower, with average download speeds often close to 10Mbps (and upload speeds even slower).Leased line speeds are typically much faster, usually ranging from 10Mbps to 10Gbps.PricesUnderstandably, business broadband deals are much, much cheaper than a leased line, and usually cost somewhere between £10 and £40 per month.Leased lines are much more expensive than business broadband, costing anywhere between £90 and £900 per month.SetupBroadband is simple to set up. You can usually get connected in under a week.Leased lines involve complicated installation that can take much longer – expect a minimum of 45 days. Get leased line quotesWith over a decade’s experience in matching businesses up with their best-fit service providers, we’re here to help you quickly and easily compare quotes from the best leased line providers for you. No more digging through provider websites to find price plans, or contacting providers separately just to get an idea of what they charge – our free quote-finding tool will do the hard work instead.Just answer a few questions about what your business needs, and we’ll match you up with suppliers that can provide it. They’ll come to you with tailored, no-obligation quotes, so you can understand and compare the prices available to you. It’s quick, easy, and free. Save by comparing tailored, no-obligation leased line quotes Answer a few questions about what you need to be matched with the best providers Get free quotes It only takes a minute Verdict If you run a small business, TalkTalk is the leased line provider we recommend first, bringing affordable pricing and excellent customer support to the table. That said, if your priority is super speed, Colt offers some of the fastest connection speeds around. If having a reliable connection and contract is the most important thing to you, we recommend BT, which shows impressive commitment to delivering on its SLAs – including a target of 100% uptime.If none of those suit, we also recommend looking into Virgin Media, Neos Networks, and Vodafone, all of which boast advantages that might prove perfect for your business.If you’d like help with the next stages of your research, look no further. With our free quote-finding tool, you can get matched up with the best leased line providers for your needs. They’ll then be in touch to offer quotes tailored to your requirements, and answers to your questions. It’s quick and easy, and comes with zero obligation. FAQs What is a leased line service? A leased line is a dedicated data connection that provides businesses with a private, super fast internet (and possibly phone) network. How much does a leased line cost? Leased line prices can range from £90 to well over £800 per month.These monthly costs depend on connection speeds, the type of leased line you go for (EoFTTC, EFM, or full fibre), the length of your contract, the add-ons you choose, the location of your business (major cities tend to be cheaper), and more.There are also installation costs to contend with – if your provider doesn’t waive them, they can come to thousands of pounds.To learn more and closely compare prices from providers, check out our guide to leased line costs. What should you look for in a leased line supplier? Aside from the obvious factors, such as a good price, it’s important to determine a few things about each potential supplier’s service. Here are some things to look out for:Customer support that you can access 24/7, in a way that suits you (for example, over the phone vs. live chat vs. a contact form)A fast fault repair time. This is the amount of time it’ll take the provider to fix an outage. How long can your team afford to go without a connection?A fast installation time. You don’t want to be waiting months on end for your connection.A good uptime guarantee. As close to 100% as you can find!Contract lengths that suit you. If you’re looking for as short or flexible a commitment as possible, seek out providers that offer 12-month contracts or rolling contracts. On the other hand, you might prefer a five-year contract on which prices will be cheaper.A lot of these factors, including uptime targets and fault repair and installation times, will be covered by a provider’s SLA – an agreement that commits the provider to a particular level of service. Make sure you check your potential provider’s SLA thoroughly. Save by comparing free leased line prices Do you need a leased line for your business? Yes No Answer a few questions – it only takes a minute Written by: Julia Watts Software Expert Specialising in business software, Julia writes jargon-busting guides about VoIP, fleet management, dash cams, fuel cards, and more. Having spent almost a decade writing for entrepreneurs and reviewing business solutions, she loves helping exciting ventures – big or small – to flourish. Reviewed by: Heleana Neil Business Services Editor Heleana Neil specialises in Business Services, managing the strategy and production of content for SMBs, helping businesses with the challenges and opportunities they face today. Covering everything from payroll to payment processing, Heleana uses her expertise to help business owners make better, informed decisions and grow their companies.