Leased lines for business: what they are, what drives the cost, and when they pay off
Markus Scherzer
Managing Director
As of 29 September 2026, last checked 29 September 2026. Sources at the end of the article.
Summary: A leased line is a dedicated, uncontended and usually symmetric internet connection with a contractual commitment on availability and repair time. It costs more than business fibre because bandwidth is reserved and repair is committed, and it pays off where an outage costs more than the difference. For many sites, fibre with monitored 5G backup is enough. We found no public prices for dedicated lines in Austria, so every offer is site-specific.
Providers use the term leased line a little differently. Across the more than 200 connections we operate, offers can only be compared through the service description, not the product name. This article explains what a leased line is, what drives the cost and when you need one, and when you do not. How we select and run lines for sites is described on the business internet for companies page.
What is a leased line?
A leased line is a permanent internet connection with bandwidth reserved for your site and a contractual commitment on availability and repair time. You do not share the capacity with other customers.
Four properties make the difference:
- Reserved bandwidth: no contention, the booked rate is available around the clock.
- Symmetric: download and upload are equal, which matters for backups and replication.
- Fixed public IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6, with BGP on request.
- Service level agreement: committed availability, response and restoration time, usually with a credit when they are missed.
Leased line, DIA, private line: which is which
One product class, several names. "Leased line" is the usual term in the UK, "dedicated internet access" (DIA) what carriers and US buyers say, Standleitung the German term. Carriers add product names: in Austria Magenta calls it Corporate Internet Access and Drei TopInternet. The service descriptions differ in detail.
A "private line" is something else: also called Ethernet Private Line or a Layer 2 connection, it links two sites directly with no internet in between. A leased line or DIA links one site to the internet. Both are called leased lines in everyday speech, which muddles quotes. This article covers internet leased lines. We explain point-to-point connections for context; they are not part of our offer.
Leased line or business fibre: the difference that counts
A business fibre connection is not a leased line, even if it runs at 1 Gbit/s. The difference is in the contract: best effort or committed bandwidth.
Business fibre is best effort: the service description states a range instead of a fixed value. One documented example is the service description for A1 Business Glasfaser Internet 1000/1000 (VX/IKB, valid from 1 October 2025, a variant on the fibre network of Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe, usable only at certain sites): it states a data transfer capacity on a best-effort basis of between 550 and 1,000 Mbit/s (source below). How to read such a service description is covered in the comparison compare business internet in Austria.
Dedicated products document other values. Quoted from the public product pages (accessed 29 September 2026): Magenta states a 99.9% availability guarantee for Corporate Internet Access, Colt states up to 99.99% with a high-availability option for IP Access, and Drei describes TopInternet with a custom SLA and its own service operation centre. Measurement periods differ.
The table describes product classes, not providers.
| Line type | Bandwidth guaranteed | Symmetric | Repair time in SLA | Typical use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business fibre | no, best effort | often | yes, with service hours | office, branch | |
| Leased line (DIA) | yes | yes | yes, individual | servers, cloud, HQ | |
| Mobile 5G | no | no | rarely | backup, temporary | |
| Cable and DSL | no | no | limited | small sites |
Compare the service descriptions, not the product names.
When does a leased line pay off?
The more of these points apply, the more likely the premium pays for itself:
- Expected cost of downtime: compare how long and how often outages might occur, times the cost per hour, with the monthly premium. See what to do in the first 30 minutes of an internet outage.
- Upload-heavy workloads: backups, CAD files, video, replication. On asymmetric connections the upload is the bottleneck.
- Own services, fixed IP, BGP: servers, a VPN concentrator and a telephony gateway need fixed addresses and a line that stays reachable.
- Latency-sensitive applications: telephony, remote desktop, control systems. Reserved bandwidth keeps other customers' load peaks out of your response times.
- Contractual obligations: customer or supplier contracts and, under NIS 2, internal requirements can call for committed availability.
A leased line does not make a site outage-proof. It changes who fixes a fault and how fast, and it removes contention. A damaged street cable hits it like any other connection.
When fibre plus 5G backup is enough
For many sites, business fibre with a monitored 5G backup over a second carrier is the better buy. That can be documented: per the RTR Internet Monitor 2025, fibre to the home (FTTH) could serve 38.0% of potential connection objects in Austria and FTTH end-user connections grew 19.5% in 2025, and the 2024 broadband evaluation report puts gigabit-capable connections at 75% of households (household figures, not site figures). Carriers offer it themselves: Magenta documents an optional 5G backup for Corporate Internet Access.
The combination does not give you guaranteed bandwidth, symmetric upload, a repair commitment measured in hours or a fixed IP on the backup path. The 5G backup and failover page lists what is not promised, and our assessment is in the ADR: fixed line and 5G as site redundancy.
Our rule of thumb, experience and not statistics: if you can absorb an outage of one hour but not an outage of a day, fibre plus a tested 5G backup usually serves you well. If you cannot absorb the hour, you need the leased line, often in addition to the backup.
What does a leased line cost?
None of the providers whose product pages we checked on 29 September 2026 publishes a price for a dedicated line. Every offer is specific to the site, because the price depends on the physical path to your location.
The six cost factors
1. Access type. Fibre of the carrier already in the building (on-net) is cheaper than another operator's tail (off-net) or a new build.
2. Distance and civil works. Digging, rights of way and the building entry are often the largest one-off item.
3. Bandwidth and bearer. The bearer is the physical interface, the bandwidth the booked rate on it. 100 Mbit/s on a 1 Gbit/s bearer can make a later upgrade cheaper.
4. SLA class. Availability, response and restoration time and service hours (24/7 or office hours) drive the price.
5. Redundancy. A second path, building entry or carrier costs extra.
6. Term and one-off costs. Setup, router, indexation and automatic renewal belong in the total.
Compare offers over the whole term, not the monthly rate.
What a fibre connection costs
Business fibre and a leased line have different pricing logic. In our experience the main one-off item for fibre is the civil work from the street to the building, not the monthly fee. We do not quote prices for business fibre here.
Why we do not give a price range
The spread between a Vienna site with fibre in the building and a rural business park with no feed is wider than any band we could state, and German price bands do not carry over to Austria. A number without a location would be invented.
Understanding the SLA: what 99.9% really means
An availability commitment is a number over a period. The table converts common values into hours (arithmetic, not a vendor statement).
| Committed availability | Permitted downtime | |
|---|---|---|
| 99.5% per year | 43.8 hours per year | |
| 99.9% per year | 8.76 hours per year | |
| 99.99% per year | 52.6 minutes per year | |
| 98.5% per quarter | about 32 hours per quarter |
The provider defines the measurement period and maintenance windows. Both are in the service description.
Three deadlines are often confused: response time is when work starts, restoration time is when the fault is fixed, and service hours define when the clock runs. In some service descriptions the clock pauses outside technician hours. A fault on Saturday evening can then be reported, but the clock only resumes on Monday at 7:00.
Service credits are usually a credit against the monthly fee and do not cover business loss. You can prove a breach only with your own data: timestamps, ticket numbers and a measurement independent of the carrier, as described in the network monitoring guide.
How long does installation take?
None of the carriers whose product pages we checked publishes a binding lead time for a new dedicated fibre line, and we do not give one. It depends on fibre in the building, right of way, digging, in-house cabling, landlord consent and permits. In our experience lead times range from a few weeks where fibre is already in the building to several months where the feed has to be built.
Check availability before you sign a lease and order the backup first: Magenta documents a quick install within a few days for the mobile backup of Corporate Internet Access.
Redundancy: a leased line is not yet resilience
Two contracts with the same carrier through the same duct are not redundancy. Real diversity means a second carrier, a second building entry, a second technology (for example 5G) and a tested failover, as described on the 5G backup and failover page.
With several sites, the internet leased line often serves as the underlay for an SD-WAN. Anexum supplies and runs the lines underneath; the overlay comes from the SD-WAN vendor or an IT partner. See the comparison SD-WAN vs. MPLS for an overview.
Who delivers leased lines in Austria?
By product class, not by rank. Magenta, Drei and Colt document dedicated internet products publicly. For A1 we found no public service description for a dedicated access on 29 September 2026. Per site we work with A1, Magenta, Drei, Deutsche Telekom, Colt and Plusnet, and with regional network operators such as Citycom, Energie AG, Salzburg AG, kabelplus and LIWEST.
Anexum is not a network operator but is listed with the RTR as a reseller (entry 5265). You sign the contract with Anexum, and Anexum is your contact for first-level support. The carrier delivers and operates the network, and second level runs through us. For each site we compare the offers on availability, service description and total cost and disclose the options compared.
The Austrian market by product class, with service descriptions and a selection checklist, is covered in the comparison compare business internet in Austria.
What Anexum does
Ordering a line is the smaller part. Our steps:
- Check availability per address.
- Record requirements: bandwidth, SLA, IP addresses, redundancy.
- Obtain and compare offers.
- Review the contract: term, indexation, renewal, repair times.
- Coordinate installation: landlord, electrician, carrier, acceptance test.
- Operate: monitoring and provider management.
For an Austrian construction group we operate the connectivity of most of the sites. We keep an inventory of all managed lines and contracts, monitor the lines proactively and provide reactive support for faults. In addition there is provider management towards the carriers, regular check-ins and a service portal we built to the customer's requirements. More on provider management in day-to-day operation. The case in detail: construction group reference.
Lines and operation come together in Managed Business Internet. To find out what is possible at your site, have it checked.
Frequently asked questions
Is 1 Gbit/s business fibre automatically a leased line?
No. A leased line reserves bandwidth and commits to availability and repair time. For business fibre the service description usually states a best-effort range, and the bandwidth is not reserved.
How much does a leased line cost in Austria?
We found no public prices at any provider we checked. Six factors set the price: access type, distance and civil works, bandwidth, SLA class, redundancy, and term and one-off costs.
Is an MPLS connection the same as an internet leased line?
No. MPLS connects sites with each other in a provider network, while an internet leased line connects one site to the internet. The difference and the alternatives are covered in the comparison SD-WAN vs. MPLS.
Does a 20-person office need a leased line?
That depends on the cost of an outage and on the applications, not headcount. For many offices of that size, fibre with a tested 5G backup is enough.
How long until a dedicated fibre line is live?
None of the carriers we checked publishes a binding time for this, and we do not give one. It depends on fibre in the building, right of way, digging, in-house cabling and landlord consent.
What does 99.9% availability mean in hours?
At 99.9% per year, 8.76 hours of downtime are permitted. The provider sets the measurement period and maintenance windows, so check the service description.
Do I get static IP addresses?
With dedicated access this is usual, and multiple addresses and BGP are normally available on request. With best-effort products it is often an option.
Who delivers leased lines in Austria, and why not order directly from the carrier?
You can order directly, especially if one carrier is clearly the right choice at your site. With us you sign one contract with Anexum. We compare several offers per site, are your contact for first-level support and run the line with monitoring and escalation. Anexum is not a network operator but an RTR-listed reseller.
Have your site checked
Send us the address, the bandwidth you need, your preferred date and whether you want redundancy. We come back with what is available.
Do you already have contracts? The provider audit reviews terms, costs and commitments.
Sources
All sources accessed on 29 September 2026.
- RTR, Internet Monitor annual report 2025: https://www.rtr.at/TKP/aktuelles/publikationen/publikationen/m/im/RTR_Internet_Monitor_Jahresbericht-2025_ua.pdf
- A1, service description Business Glasfaser Internet 1000/1000: https://cdn22.a1.net/documents/37417/187135/LB_A1BusinessGlasfaserInternet_VX_IKB_1000symm.pdf
- Magenta, Corporate Internet Access: https://www.magenta.at/business/internet-festnetz/corporate-internet-access
- Drei, TopInternet: https://www.drei.at/de/business/grossunternehmen/loesungen/top-internet/
- Colt, IP Access datasheet: https://docs.colt.net/datasheets/connectivity/ip-access
- Breitbandbüro, Breitband-Evaluierungsbericht 2024: https://data.breitbandbuero.gv.at/Publikationen/Breitband-Evaluierungsbericht-2024.pdf
- Wikipedia, Standleitung (general definition): https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standleitung
- Availability in hours: our own arithmetic (percentage times 8,760 hours per year or 2,160 hours per quarter).