The North East covers a lot of ground, from the city centres of Tyne and Wear to the market towns of County Durham, the industry of Teesside and the farms and villages of Northumberland. What a business needs from its connection varies just as much. This page is a regional guide to leased lines: what they are, where they make sense, and what affects cost and timing in different parts of the region.
The short version
A leased line is a dedicated fibre connection used only by your organisation. It is uncontended, symmetrical and covered by a service level agreement. Most UK leased lines are built on Openreach Ethernet Access Direct, which comes in 10Mbps, 100Mbps, 1Gbps and 10Gbps bandwidths and has a 5 hour restore time in its contract. Business broadband, including full fibre, shares capacity with other users and is provided on a best effort basis.
Across the region
Tyne and Wear
The busiest part of the region for offices. Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Shields and North Tyneside have city centre offices, large business parks and contact centres where many people work online at once. Leased lines here are usually about capacity and consistency for large teams. Our area pages for Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne have more local detail.
County Durham
Durham city, Chester le Street, Peterlee, Seaham and the surrounding towns combine public sector employers, research and technology firms, and manufacturing. Our Durham page covers the city and nearby towns in more depth.
Teesside
Teesside has a long industrial history and is home to process industries, engineering firms, ports and logistics. Industrial sites often sit some distance from the nearest network point, which can mean longer cable routes and more construction work before a line can go live.
Northumberland
Northumberland is the most rural part of the region. Farms, tourism businesses, rural offices and market town firms can all benefit from a dedicated line, but rural premises are more likely to need new infrastructure to reach them. We can still quote, and the survey will show what is involved.
Businesses with more than one site
Many North East organisations work from several locations: a head office in a city, a depot on an industrial estate, perhaps a branch in a market town. Leased lines are often used to connect sites like these, so staff in each place reach the same systems at the same speed. If that describes your business, list every site when you ask for a quote, because each one is surveyed and priced on its own.
What affects lead time and cost
A standard EAD leased line usually takes around 33 working days. In a region as varied as ours, the main reasons a site takes longer are:
- Distance. Sites on industrial estates or in the countryside may need a longer new route.
- Groundworks. Digging a road or verge needs planning and permits.
- Permissions. Landlords, neighbouring landowners and managing agents may need to agree.
- Building access. Older or shared buildings can need careful internal cabling.
When extra construction is needed, there may be an excess construction charge. We confirm the exact cost for your site after the survey, and you choose whether to go ahead.
Regulation and funding
Ofcom's Telecoms Access Review sets the rules for leased lines from April 2026 to March 2031. Central London has been deregulated, while other areas, including the North East, remain under regulation that can include price caps and dark fibre access.
On funding, the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme closed to new projects on 31 August 2026. Projects already approved continue until the scheme closes fully in March 2028, and some councils may run their own schemes, so it is worth asking yours.
Is a leased line right for you?
A leased line is the stronger choice when you have a large team online at once, rely on cloud systems, upload big files, link several sites, or would lose money during an outage. For smaller teams with lighter needs, business full fibre is often enough and costs less. Our guide to leased line vs business broadband explains the trade off in more detail.
A North East provider
Cyber Fibre is based in Sunderland and works with businesses across the region. Run an online check on our leased lines page, request a quote for one site or several, or call us on 0191 543 3432.