Communications provider Entanet has warned that traditional symmetric and largely uncontended Leased Line ISP solutions, which provide a dedicated Private Circuit connection between operators and businesses, are coming under an increasing threat from the new generation of faster and cheaper consumer grade broadband services (100Mbps FTTP and Annex-M ADSL2+ etc.).


But is it really "the end of the line for leased line connectivity"? Probably not. Certainly we do now exist in a market where many homes are finally able to receive connectivity that, just a few years ago, might have cost hundreds of pounds per month and only been available to businesses.

However, as consumer demand has increased, so too has the need for ever faster Leased Line solutions. Entanet claims to have seen a "dramatic increase" in demand for its 10Mbps, 100Mbps and even higher speed Leased Line and Ethernet services.


The market for such services might be under more pressure, especially when trying to sell into smaller firms, although there still appears to be plenty of room left for Leased Lines to prosper. BT in particular makes a lot of its money from related services. Crucially, true Leased Lines can almost always go faster.

A similar technology, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), considered by many to be a relic of the last millennium, has shown how offering true low-latency digital connectivity can still count for something. Even today some firms still use ISDN links, despite its high prices and top speed (128Kbps - dual channel) being laughably slow. ISDN only failed in the wider market because, unlike leased lines, it was a stagnant standard that couldn't evolve to meet modern demands. Leased Lines can.