FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet)

Entry-level fibre — affordable, but limited.

How it works:

FTTC uses fibre from the exchange to the roadside cabinet, and copper cables from the cabinet to your premises. That final copper section can create bottlenecks.

Pros

• Cost-effective
• Widely available
• Better speeds than standard ADSL
• Good for small offices or light internet use

Cons

• Shares the connection with other premises (contended)
• Copper last-mile causes slower speeds & performance drops
• Upload speeds are much lower than downloads
• Weather and distance from the cabinet affect quality
• Not suitable for heavy cloud usage or VoIP dependence

FTTP (Fibre to the Premises)

Full fibre, faster speeds, but still shared and not guaranteed.

How it works:

FTTP uses fibre all the way to the premises, offering faster and more stable speeds than FTTC without copper limitations.

Pros

• Much faster speeds: often up to 1Gbps*
• Better reliability than FTTC
• Great for cloud services, VoIP, video calls, and remote workers
• Lower latency

Cons

• Still a shared service — peak-time slowdowns can happen
• No guaranteed bandwidth or uptime
• Upload speeds still typically lower than download speeds
• Repairs and faults handled on a best-effort basis
• Why FTTP is better than FTTC:
• No copper = more reliable
• Faster speeds
• Better performance consistency
• Lower latency
• More future-proof
• But it still doesn’t offer the guaranteed performance that businesses often need.

Leased Line Lite

A stepping stone between FTTP and a full leased line.

How it works:

Leased Line Lite typically offers symmetrical speeds (same upload and download) with lower contention and better service agreements than FTTP but it may still run over shared infrastructure at certain points.

Pros

• Symmetrical speeds — great for upload-heavy work
• More stable than FTTP
• Usually better SLAs (Service Level Agreements)
• Good for multi-user offices, VoIP, hosted servers, cloud backup

Cons

• Still not 100% uncontended
• Not all providers guarantee dedicated bandwidth
• Can fluctuate during peak times
• Not as resilient as a full leased line

Why Leased Line Lite is better than FTTP:

• Symmetrical upload/download
• Higher reliability
• Better SLAs and faster repair times
• Less chance of speed drops

Full Leased Line — The Gold Standard

Dedicated. Guaranteed. Uncontended. 100% built for business.

How it works:

A leased line is a private, dedicated fibre connection directly between your business and the provider’s network. You’re not sharing bandwidth with anyone.

It is the most stable, reliable, and business-friendly connection available.

Major Advantages

1. Symmetrical speeds

Upload = download. Essential for:

• VoIP
• video conferencing
• cloud systems
• remote servers
• backups and data transfer

2. Guaranteed bandwidth

• Speeds are fixed 24/7 — no slowdowns.

3. Uncontended

• No sharing. No peak congestion. No neighbours slowing you down.

4. Enterprise SLAs

• Prioritised repairs
• Guaranteed uptime (typically 99.9%+)
• Guaranteed fix times

5. Ultra-low latency

• Vital for real-time systems and high-performance cloud usage.

6. Scalable

• Need more bandwidth? Just upgrade — no new cabling required.

7. Most reliable connection available

• Designed for businesses that cannot afford downtime.

Why a Full Leased Line Beats Them All

Technology	Speed	Reliability	Is it Shared?	SLA	Best For
FTTC	Low	Low	Yes	Basic	Small offices, basic browsing
FTTP	High	Medium	Yes	Best-effort	Cloud use, VoIP, growing teams
Leased Line Lite	High / Symmetrical	High	Partially	Enhanced	Multi-user offices, cloud-first
Full Leased Line	Guaranteed	Highest	No	Enterprise-grade	Any business that needs stability

Final Summary

• FTTC - Cheapest, but least reliable
• FTTP - Faster and more modern, but still shared
• Leased Line Lite - More stability and symmetrical speeds, but not fully dedicated
• Full Leased Line - The most reliable, stable, uncontended connection with guaranteed performance

If your business depends on uptime, cloud apps, VoIP, VPNs, remote workers, backups, or constant communication a full leased line is the clear winner.