Your internet connection slows down every afternoon. Microsoft Teams calls freeze, cloud systems load slowly and phone calls occasionally drop out.
You have been advised to consider a leased line, but it costs noticeably more than standard business broadband. Is the extra investment justified, or would full fibre be enough?
The answer depends on how your charity works and what would happen if it lost connectivity. For some, a leased line provides the dependability needed to keep essential services running. For others, full fibre is enough. Here is how to decide.
What Exactly Is a Leased Line?
A leased line is a private internet connection used only by your charity. It isn’t shared with neighbouring homes or businesses, and it comes with stronger service guarantees than standard broadband. On a supplier quote, you may see it called an internet leased line (ILL) or dedicated internet access (DIA). Both mean the same thing. The “internet” part separates it from a private leased line, which links two of your own sites directly and doesn’t provide internet access. If other terms on the quote are unfamiliar, Qlic’s guide to telephony basics for charities explains the common ones.
Three features set a leased line apart from broadband:
- It’s uncontended. With standard broadband, you share capacity with other users nearby, so speeds drop when everyone’s online at once. An uncontended line is reserved for your charity alone, so you get the speed you pay for, even at busy times.
- Uploads are as fast as downloads. This is known as symmetrical speed. It matters if your charity relies on cloud tools such as Microsoft 365, Teams video calls, a customer relationship management (CRM) system for donor and beneficiary records, or phones that run over the internet (Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP).
- It comes with a service level agreement (SLA). This is a written commitment on how reliable the connection will be and how quickly faults will be fixed. If the line goes down, there’s a guaranteed timescale for getting it back.
Leased lines are still widely used, and they matter more now that phones and core systems run over the internet. They’re one of the options in Qlic’s connectivity for charities, alongside business broadband.
Leased Line vs Broadband: How SoGEA, Full Fibre and Leased Lines Compare
When comparing leased lines and broadband, headline download speed only tells part of the story. You also need to consider upload performance, whether the connection is shared and what support you will receive if something goes wrong.
Connection | How it works | Usually suitable for | Main consideration |
SoGEA | Broadband without a traditional phone line, offering speeds of up to 80Mbps download and 20Mbps upload | Smaller offices where full fibre is unavailable | Shared connection with lower upload speeds |
Full fibre (FTTP) | Fibre runs directly into your premises, offering speeds of up to 1Gbps download and 115Mbps upload | Many charities using Microsoft 365, Teams, cloud telephony and other online systems | Still a shared broadband service |
Leased line | Dedicated, uncontended connection with equal upload and download speeds | Charities where reliable connectivity is essential to service delivery | Higher cost, longer installation and a greater contract commitment |
Qlic’s comparison of SoGEA, FTTP and leased lines describes the differences in more detail.
Does Your Charity Actually Need a Leased Line?
Start by reflecting on what losing your internet connection would mean. If your charity went offline for an hour tomorrow:
- Could beneficiaries still reach your helpline?
- Would staff be able to access case notes or important records?
- Could your team make and receive calls?
- Would staff and volunteers still have access to Microsoft 365?
- Could you continue using your fundraising, donor or CRM systems?
- Would services at other locations be affected?
The more of your work depends on the cloud, the more important the connection becomes.
Neel Mavji, Head of IT Communications at Qlic, says:
“The biggest issues tend to appear when an organisation has outgrown a standard broadband connection without realising it. They might experience slow cloud applications, poor call quality, video meetings dropping out or performance deteriorating when lots of people are online.”
“There’s also the resilience aspect. A low-cost broadband connection might look fine on paper, but organisations often don’t consider the difference in support and repair times until something goes wrong.”
When a Leased Line is Likely Worth It
A leased line is worth considering when connectivity is fundamental to delivering your charity’s services, for example:
- Helplines and frontline services that beneficiaries need to contact
- Multi-site charities that depend on shared cloud systems
- Busy offices with many simultaneous Microsoft Teams, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and cloud users
- Virtual events and webinars where a reliable connection is essential
- Organisations transferring large files or using data-intensive cloud applications
- Charities where an outage would create a safeguarding, operational or reputational risk
Our experts add:
“For charities, I’d say reliability is often the biggest benefit. Many are heavily reliant on cloud applications, VoIP, Teams and CRM systems to deliver services, sometimes across multiple locations or with hybrid workers.”
“Moving to a leased line gives them a more dependable foundation for those services. It’s particularly valuable where losing connectivity doesn’t just inconvenience staff, but could affect their ability to support beneficiaries, answer important calls or access critical information.”
When Full Fibre and a Backup May Serve You Better
A smaller organisation with few users may find that full fibre comfortably supports its cloud tools and everyday internet use.
The same may be true for a mostly remote or hybrid workforce. If only a few people use the office connection at once, a dedicated circuit may offer limited benefit.
If your main worry is outages rather than day-to-day performance, a properly configured secondary connection may be a more proportionate fix than a dedicated circuit.
Head of IT Communications notes: “That doesn’t mean every charity needs a leased line. We look at the impact an outage would have and recommend connectivity accordingly, including backup connectivity where appropriate.”
Four Questions to Answer Before You Decide
Before requesting a leased line quote, answer these four questions:
- How many people use the connection at the same time?
Think about staff, volunteers, visitors and people working across different sites. - How much of your work happens in the cloud?
Include Microsoft 365, Teams, cloud telephony, CRM platforms, fundraising systems and case-management tools. - Would an internet outage also take your phone system offline?
If calls run through the internet, an outage could affect both your IT and your communications. - Are your requirements likely to grow?
A connection that works today may become stretched if your team expands, you open another site or you move more systems to the cloud.
You can also run a speed test during your busiest period, checking both upload and download speeds. It will not tell you everything about connection quality, but it can show whether performance drops at busy times.
A leased line can be the right choice, but the monthly fee is only part of the cost. Before you sign, check:
- Monthly cost: leased lines cost more each month than business broadband. The price depends mainly on your location, the bandwidth you need, the installation work involved and the contract length.
- Installation time: a dedicated line can take longer to install than broadband. Engineers may need to survey the site or do extra infrastructure work, or the landlord may need to sign a wayleave agreement (permission to run cables through the building).
- Managing the switch: Qlic manages the move and deals with suppliers on your charity’s behalf. Qlic’s guide to what to expect when moving connectivity provider explains the process from planning to installation and testing.
- Installation costs: confirm whether installation and construction charges are included in the quote.
- Contract length: a longer term may lower the monthly price, but it limits your flexibility if you move premises or your needs change.
- Exit fees and renewals: ask what leaving early would cost and whether the contract renews automatically. Neel Mavji notes that notice periods are often 90 days, so charities can find themselves tied in for another year without realising.
- Bandwidth: choose a bandwidth that will still suit you late in the contract, not just today.
- Support: review the SLA and the fault response process. Find out who to contact, when support is available and what the provider commits to if the connection fails.
Together, these give you the total cost of ownership (TCO). Weigh that against what an hour offline would cost your charity, not just against the price of broadband. For more on managing spend, see Qlic’s guide to keeping telecoms costs down.
As explained in our How to Cut Costs & Prepare for the 2027 PSTN Switch-Off webinar:
“When reviewing telecom quotes, it’s easy to focus on the headline monthly price, but this rarely tells the full story. Two providers can appear to charge the same amount yet deliver very different levels of service, features and flexibility. A cheaper monthly cost can be offset by being locked into a long contract with expensive termination charges.”
So, Does Your Charity Need a Leased Line?
If losing connectivity would seriously affect your staff, beneficiaries or service delivery, a leased line is worth considering.
If your requirements are lighter, full fibre with a backup connection may be all you need.
If you are unsure which option fits your organisation, speak to the Qlic team or book a free telephony audit to review your current setup and future requirements.
