Leased Line Rendered Obsolete With Bonded / Multiple ADSL for Most Businesses

Leased Lines historically have been used as reliable, resilient internet and site-to-site data connections. The main benefits have been security, reliability, SLAs, private network and flexible speeds. Leased Lines were also known for high installation charges, long installation times, hefty monthly fees and unreasonable contracts. With the advent of cheap ADSL connections, Leased Lines have become as relevant as dinosaurs except for the most demanding businesses, especially when you can bond multiple ADSL lines to get reliable broadband at a fraction of the cost.

Today I had a call from a leased line provider in Kolkata. They are offering 256 Kbps for Rs. 11, 000 per month (contracted on yearly basis) and with a hefty one time installation charge (at least 3, 50,000).

Compare this to my dual ADSL connections with speed of 1Mbps & 256 Kbps respectively and costing Rs 3500 and Rs 750 respectively, a total of Rs 4250 for over 1 Mbps download and 512 Kbps upload bandwidth. I have used the two connections to get reliable broadband at a fraction of the cost of leased lines.

With ADSL bonding your bandwidth becomes truly additive. However it requires support from your ADSL provider.

We use the two ADSL connections for load-balancing and transparent fail-over for reliability and supporting dozens of demanding users.

However if your business needs very high bandwidth like 10Mbps or more (call center or web hosting for example) then leased line is your only option. However be prepared to pay exorbitantly.