In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by Sammm_:

If there is FTTC in the area, you could check if FTTPoD is available and pay the install charges to get the work done.

The main problem with FTTPoD is that there's no guarantee how long it will take to get installed. If you place a leased line order, you'll probably have it up and running within 3 months. With FTTPoD you'll be very lucky if it's going within 6 months, and 18 months is not unknown.

I have seen leased line installs that have taken 2 years to complete. Average lead time is 90 days but you are correct in that FTTP takes longer.

BT Enterprise is now providing 1gbps bearers to all customers no matter the speed without a higher price. Might be worth checking with them but they are normally more expensive than others. Also, remember that dropping the managed router and going "Wires Only" can save some money.

Hey there! Feel free to email us the address on [email protected] and the team in charge of leased line connections will gladly advise you further!

The basic issue with leased lines is Openreach's pricing. An EAD Enable/1G will cost a minimum of £1,782/year (£148.50/mth). 'Enable' are lines without Openreach junk tainting your rack (but usually a router supplied by the ISP instead). Because ISPs have to also buy the guaranteed bandwidth from the backhaul, which themselves are also using either EAD or BES services from Openreach and/or transit providers, then in effect the minimum leased line price is technically double the Openreach EAD rate, so really finding anything below £3,564/yr (£297/mth), means that you have to either find an alt-net like CityFibre or Virgin, an ISP that will spread profit from other connections on a fatter pipe (Hyperoptic). Put like that, you see how good TalkTalk's quote is, actually. There's very little fat on it.

In any case, the biggest obstacle remains BT's protectionism.

A few remarks:

EADs are a regulated product. They can neither be priced excessively high or excessively low. One for obvious reasons, the other to ensure that alternative networks can compete.

Speak with Ofcom on this one.

Given Openreach have to charge everyone the same price for an EAD I'm not sure how the pricing is 'protectionism'. Openreach are quite incapable of protectionism. Indeed high EAD prices incentivise alternative networks, potentially using DPA, to build themselves. Really low EAD prices would be protectionism as they'd dissuade alternative network build.

CPs/ISPs do not buy guaranteed bandwidth for each leased line as far as backhaul goes.

Transit and backhaul are different things.

BES don't exist anymore. Openreach stopped sale of them in 2011 and support of them earlier this year.

In reply to a post by CarlTSpeak:

A few remarks:

EADs are a regulated product. They can neither be priced excessively high or excessively low. One for obvious reasons, the other to ensure that alternative networks can compete.

Speak with Ofcom on this one.

Given Openreach have to charge everyone the same price for an EAD I'm not sure how the pricing is 'protectionism'. Openreach are quite incapable of protectionism. Indeed high EAD prices incentivise alternative networks, potentially using DPA, to build themselves. Really low EAD prices would be protectionism as they'd dissuade alternative network build.

CPs/ISPs do not buy guaranteed bandwidth for each leased line as far as backhaul goes.

Transit and backhaul are different things.

BES don't exist anymore. Openreach stopped sale of them in 2011 and support of them earlier this year.

Yes, backhaul is basically transmitting over their own lines to their datacentres and POPs, transit would be to other networks they do not peer with.

I saw the Openreach prices, and yes, TT at 1g is great but not sure if we have the money for it.

To me I see BT protectionism as them being the only provider of EAD in the majority of areas. Equally they will not provide it as a dark fibre line. Bear in mind that I don't need Openreach's equipment as quite a few providers have POPs and their own backhaul at my exchange. All I need is the actual line, and Openreach charge an arm and a leg.

In reply to a post by Hyperoptic_CS:

Hey there! Feel free to email us the address on [email protected] and the team in charge of leased line connections will gladly advise you further!

I tried you on chat already and was just advised to register interest, even though I said I wanted a leased line, not shared.
Considering you're advertising 100mb at £350/month, what makes you think you're going to come close in terms of a competitive quote to what I've had already? I wanted to know who was cheap, not have salespeople badger me with ridiculous prices.

Unfortunately, it will most likely always stay like this. BT built the infrastructure so they get to keep it and it should have been stopped by the government early on.
I personally don't think EAD is overpriced for the stability and bandwidth you get. Your best bet is to get bids from different ISP's and bargain with them. From experience, £250-350 is the general price for 100mbps on 100mbps bearer (price can differ depending on the A End and route distance).
EFM is also an option but would recommend going with fibre if you can. I would steer clear from EoFTTC as max speed is 18mbps.

The more relevant price list is the one for EAD Local Access, and there is no requirement for providers to purchase backhaul from anybody - lots of the larger ones are on-net at BT exchanges which is why providers like TalkTalk can be so competitive.

It's also not been my experience that Virgin Media circuits are cheaper than Openreach to any significant degree.

Techeasy

To me I see BT protectionism as them being the only provider of EAD in the majority of areas

This is why the price is so high as OFCOM basically set the prices so that others can undercut OR. OR have floors on all these prices that are set by OFCOM as well as ceilings to protect rural (expensive to provide) areas, so really they have no flexibility on price at all.

They also have to provide duct and pole access at close to cost prices to any provider that wants to build their own network, usually providers only want to do this when they have a contract they can make money on a long term basis.

So lined a bunch of quotes, but I'm trying to shortlist them and I can't find much reports online re reliability and customer service. Main priorities are actual time to fix (not the SLA, that's just money back), and how easy they are to make changes.
Is it better to go for a big reliable (?) provider like GTT or Vodafone using a BT tail, maybe TalkTalk with their own tail, or a small local one like Spitfire I can prod into getting things done, or maybe a reseller like Amvia who might have more clout? If anyone has any real-life experience (for Ethernet services) with any of these I'd love to know.

SSE (own and Sky's backhaul, BT and Sky tails)
Vodafone (big network, BT tails)
GTT (big network, BT tails)
TalkTalk (own network and tails)
Daisy (resells CityFibre and TT)
Zen (small own network, BT tails)
Spitfire (ditto)
Amvia (reseller)