Leased Lines

A leased line is a dedicated fibre connection which runs from a customer’s premises to the Ethernet core network. It’s a highly secure and resilient option that’s great for businesses that need to maintain an ‘always on’ connection. The technology is capable of providing symmetrical speeds (i.e. the same speeds for both upload and download) so it’s suitable for SMEs and larger corporations. It’s also fully scalable - you can buy a leased line at a higher bandwidth capacity than is needed currently and restrict actual bandwidth usage to manage costs, but then expand your bandwidth usage as and when you need. See the ‘What's the difference between committed data rate (CDR) and a bearer?’ question for more information.

Our provisioning team and the power of our connected networks means we're able to provide greater visibility of order and implementation progress. Effectively owning the fibre in the ground also means we’re able to provide fiercely competitive pricing on Ethernet circuits.

A bearer is the maximum size of bandwidth on a connection, whereas the committed data rate (CDR) is how much data has been selected on that connection. For example, a ‘100 over a Gig’ connection means that a 1Gbps bearer has been selected but with a committed data rate of 100Mbps. By buying a 100Mbps/1Gbps line, the business has access to the full Gigabit of bandwidth when they need it but will only pay for the 100Mbps of bandwidth that they’re currently using. This makes leased lines inherently flexible and able to grow with a business, rather than requiring technology changes as bandwidth needs expand. For even greater flexibility, look at our Ethernet Flex 1Gbps option.

This doesn’t mean that we place a cap on data flow! It means that the bandwidth on the circuit is restricted to the committed data rate (CDR) that you indicated on your original order.

Ideally you’d capture the likelihood of a premises move before placing your leased line order as this will have an impact on the recommended carrier. If a move is required part way through a contract, a charge may be applicable depending on how long there is left on the contract and the location of the new site. Speak to your Account Manager who has the knowledge and experience to find the best solution for your specific case.

Bandwidth can be increased to meet changing customer needs - up to the bearer limit - multiple times during a contract term but can only be decreased once. However, if bandwidth is decreased, your customer will still be billed for the higher bandwidth rate until the contract expires. Upgrade fees may apply. Check out our Ethernet Flex product for a great solution to the need to temporarily increase bandwidth.

Temporary bandwidth increases may be possible for special events but changes are subject to a minimum term of one month. Check out our Ethernet Flex product for a great solution to the need to temporarily increase bandwidth.

No, we don’t block any ports on our equipment.

If a router that we’ve provided fails, we’ll arrange for a replacement to be couriered to your customer’s business site on the next working day. Replacements will be made on a like-for-like basis.

We guarantee availability of a circuit between CityFibre and the customer handover point (typically the carrier installed network termination equipment (NTE) or the router that we’ve supplied. We also guarantee that latency will be an average of not more than 50 milliseconds between any two routers on the network, measured over the course of an hour.

The provisioning process that we follow is standard across the communications industry and has a number of key stages to go through. For further information, you can download our 'Guide to Provisioning' ebook.

There are a number of factors that can impact the time it takes to implement a leased line so while we indicate that it will take on average 65 working days, in reality this will depend on the outcome of the site survey and whether any works are needed that will require the input of outside agencies, such as local councils or landlords. The good news is that as we manage the provisioning process ourselves, your dedicated provisioning agent will be able to keep you and your customer updated on progress as the order makes its way through the process to activation.