Question Leased Lines

bigdavecox90

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Hi guys,

Does anyone know anything about leased lines?

I've got a few questions could do with some advice on.

Thanks
 
Yes: They are lines, they are leased, they are "yours" (in that you don't share them with anyone else, albeit the physical infrastructure still "belongs" to the provider,) and they cost a fortune. And if you need to get the roads dug up to install them, it can be painful and can take ages to get done.

They are not necessarily copper cables, they can also be fibre optic and radio links for example.

What do you want to know...?
 
Thanks, basically, we have moved to a new business address, where there is a box connected to the wall. I am trying to get it re-activated, however BT don't seem to think this is an option and the whole box will need replacing? I can't understand the logic here...
 
Depends what it is really. If, for example in extreme, it's a fibre optic termination and you are trying to procure a copper SDSL service, then the incumbent fibre box and LTE (Line Termination Equipment) is of no use.

It may not even be BT kit in which case they may be reluctant to use it. Having provided you with a line, a service provider has to "guarantee" and support the infrastructure ongoing and naturally they'd be reluctant to try doing that with "someone else's" gear which is an unknown quantity to them.

It might be useful if you could tell us what kind of service you are trying to procure from BT and what the incumbent box is (maybe post some pictures of it.)

Though TBH, I would listen to your experts as they usually know what they are talking about. Despite occasional horror stories, I've found BT's engineers normally know what they are doing. And if you chat them up, they're quite happy to explain it to you. (Some of the wiring installations they've done for me are so neat and tidy it's almost a work of art!) And of course you could always try asking them what's up.
 
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Essentially, the box and equipment seems to be there. Having discussed it further, it seems the box was installed by OpenReach, however having contacted them they are unable to advise who the provider was/is? Therefore, I feel stuck as want to use the equipment IF possible, however am unable to find out who the provider is to discuss this further?!
 
Yeah it doesn't really work like that. If it was a leased line then the previous tenant would have cancelled it before moving out. The line won't be activated anymore

Generally speaking the NTE (which is probably what this box is) is provided free of charge anyway so you're not saving any money.

If you need a leased line then sign a new contract for one. When Openreach come out to survey if they can use the existing NTE then they will, if they can't then they'll provide a new one free of charge.

What's most important is that you have existing fibre or copper coming in to the building already which you probably do. This really speeds up the installation and reduces the chances of excess construction charges for running new cable.
 
My experience when we cancelled our leased line was that both bt and the leased line provider that provided the router both took the equipment back. I doubt any provider will be interested in re-using any equipment in situ as its a managed service with agreed SLA so they usually want there own stuff they know they can access remotely. Also I don't think it will save you any money either so whats the point??

Any new provider will do a survey and give you the actual price of any installation before they go ahead, so you will know if they have to do any groundworks etc beforehand. It will take months to get it in place too, so if you need it urgently I'd get cracking.
 
In the UK most of the physical infrastructure is owned by OpenReach which is a separate company distinct from BT (Retail) who sell voice and broadband services. The OpenReach/BT separation was done to stop BT getting a competitive advantage over other ISP's. The "rules" are such that OpenReach have to supply lines to all service providers for the same price.

As such, you don't buy "a line" from OpenReach directly, it's always provided "second hand" in that your service provider leases the infrastructure from OpenReach. But you can end up with the oddity that having bought a service from Colt, C&W, BT, Sky (whatever,) it's an Openreach engineer that turns up to install, terminate and "prove" the physical line. Albeit, that they won't (usually) be installing the ISP equipment - the "router" in SOHO use cases, that's provided by the ISP.

In short, (and somewhat inaccurately,) OpenReach provide the wires, the ISP provides the service and the equipment. (Though doubtless there's plenty of "rules" imposed by OpenReach about what can and can't be drive down "their" wires.)

By way of made up example, it's highly unlikely that Sky will be prepared to give you a service using an incumbent router that belonged to (let's say) PlusNet. Sky will want you to use a Sky router because they have to support it.

We haven't discussed why it is you are determined to use the incumbent kit. Do you think, for example, it's going to be cheaper (I doubt it) or is it going to cause some crime against the decor...? If not, I just wouldn't worry about it and go with whatever your new ISP supplies.
 
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Just to add to the lots of info above, in my experience you ask your supplier to provide you with some kind of service (PTP link, direct Internet link, IPVPN to multiple sites etc, at 10Mb, 50Mb, 100Mb 500Mb 1Gb etc) and your provider will work out how to provide it to that location (either copper, fibre or radio, existing cabling and infra or new cabling and infra, existing or new boxes etc).

You then sit back and wait (and usually wait some more) and pay a load of money for the privilege.

Advantage of leased lines is guaranteed and symmetrical connection rates, and better SLAs of the service.

@mickevh - C&W is now Vodafone. Edit: I need to qualify that a bit, we used to deal with C&W for WAN infra and telephony, but the UK section was bought by VF. I'm sure there was some part of C&W left.
 
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