BT Wholesale

Getting BT leased lines used to be the only option in the UK. British Telecom still are the biggest player in this market space but they were forced to sell leased lines at wholesale prices to other operators in 2001.

BT has been split into three separate divisions, BT Openreach (infrastructure), BT Wholesale (services for ISPs) and BT Retail. BTnet support is also available. Being the largest provider in the UK with the widest reach, you would expect some of the most competitive pricing but it very rarely happens.

Better pricing usually comes from the slightly smaller operators.

Virgin Media

Virgin Media was created from a section of UK cable franchises. It also operates one of the country’s two main fibre networks. It was formerly called NTL  Telewest, then along with Virgin Mobile and virgin.net, rebranded to Virgin Media in 2007. One of the major business leased line providers with a huge core network.

Virgin are in the process of making one of the largest networks in the country and many would argue that they are the main competitor of BT. It’s easy to see why with the resources they have. Pricing is very good and widespread coverage across the UK makes for a very attractive proposition.

TalkTalk

TalkTalk’s initial inception was formed by Carphone Warehouse and now you tend to find that they have access to not only their own network infrastructure but also combine that with local circuits from Openreach so another carrier with a huge reach! They also have the financial capabilities to easily keep up with the “Big 2” listed above.

TalkTalk seem to pride themselves on good pricing with good installation times. A very stable choice for a leased line. After having a lot of bad press for their ventures into standard broadband connections, this seems such a distance away from those days. They are now a true heavyweight in this arena.

Vodafone

Cable & Wireless was the country’s first alternative leased line provider to BT. Vodafone acquired the UK arm of Cable & Wireless in 2012. This was a big advantage for Vodafone. Vodafone use the leased lines to provide bandwidth to thousands of its mobile phone masts across the country.

Connecting you directly to the Vodafone IP backbone and offering dedicated bandwidth with symmetrical speeds just the same as the rest of the providers seems a good start. Issues with installs have been the problem over recent times but Vodafone are working hard to rectify this. One to watch!

SKY

Certainly better known to all as being the largest provider of satellite TV subscription services in the UK worth a staggering 17.7 Billion in 2019! Sky started by offering not only its paid subscribers but also the general public broadband services. Most recently, they have now moved into Ethernet services.

This was a bold move but a great one! SKY now offer 100Mb and 1Gb services with over 2800 exchanges enabled across the UK making it the largest exchange network to offer 1Gb services. On top of this, installation times are below the national average and pricing is very good!

Colt

City of London Telecommunications began supplying leased lines to Britain’s financial district, they then extended their coverage to include Docklands, central Birmingham and Manchester. In the UK, they do not compete for services outside of these areas as they also concentrate on major European cities and more recently, global markets.

If you are in a “Colt” area in the UK then realistically there is nothing to think about. They will win the price war hands down and get you connected quicker than pretty much everybody else. However, these area are too limited to make them a true powerhouse of the leased line marketplace. If you are lucky enough to be in a Colt area or if you are looking to connect global offices then Colt are a carrier we would contact for sure.

CityFibre

CityFibre is the UK’s largest alternative provider of wholesale fibre network infrastructure and the builder of Gigabit Cities. With network projects in 50+ cities and construction underway to reach more, CityFibre is future-proofing the UK. That is there words. However, CityFibre have enjoyed incredible growth and could be classed as a major player in the future.

At the moment however, very similar to Colt as detailed above – their coverage across the UK for businesses is way too small. Again if you are lucky enough to be in a CityFibre area then you can benefit from some great pricing, quick installs and the usual “bells and whistles” you get with a leased line. One to watch…

Neos Networks

They were formerly known as SSE but are now Neos Networks. They are the telecommunications arm of Scottish and Southern Energy. The supplier discovered a very cost effective way to link cities together, after realising that it could string fibre from its electricity pylons. Part of the highly successful SSE Group.

Considered as one of the “Big Six” companies dominating the UK energy market, SSE also provides quality connectivity and data centre services at fantastic prices. SSE have one of the largest networks in the UK, making them a really attractive option and one not to be overlooked.