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Business Broadband Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is one of the most important elements of a business broadband contract. It outlines your provider’s commitments regarding critical performance metrics such as uptime, fault resolution speed, and installation timelines.
Understanding SLAs is essential when choosing a broadband service for your business. A strong SLA can offer reassurance and accountability, while a weak one exposes your business to unnecessary risks.
This guide doesn’t just explain the key components of business broadband SLAs, but it also provides practical examples of both weak and strong agreements.
Key components of a business broadband SLA
A business broadband SLA typically includes several key components covering various performance metrics.
This section aims to help business owners compare the SLAs in different business broadband deals by explaining each performance metric and providing examples of both strong and weak SLAs.
Uptime guarantee
An uptime guarantee is a promise from your broadband provider about how reliable your internet connection will be.
The uptime SLA is usually expressed as a percentage and indicates the targeted amount of time your connection is expected to be live. Here’s how it is calculated:
divided by Total service hours in a year
The table below shows the difference between good and poor uptime guarantees.
| Uptime Percentage | Downtime Per Month | Applicable Services | SLA Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best effort | Unspecified / Unlimited | Residential broadband | No guarantees; not suitable for critical operations |
| 99% | 7 hours, 18 minutes | SoGEA | Poor. High risk of major disruptions |
| 99.90% | 43 minutes, 49 seconds | Full Fibre | Good. Standard for most business broadband |
| 99.95% | 21 minutes, 54 seconds | Full Fibre | Very good. Suitable for critical business operations |
| 99.99% | 4 minutes, 23 seconds | Leased Line | Excellent. Minimal risk of disruption |
Installation commitment
An installation commitment is a broadband provider’s promise regarding when your service will be installed and ready to use. This is a crucial part of the SLA as it sets the expectation for when to start using the service after signing up.
After signing up for a new broadband service, your provider typically carries out an initial service check to give you a target installation date for your connection.
The installation commitment SLA provides financial compensation if the target installation date is missed:
- Good installation commitment – Financial compensation for each day of delay beyond the target installation date.
No installation SLA – Installation times vary and are subject to engineer availability. No financial recourse for delays.
For more information on the broadband installation process, read our guides to business broadband installation and leased line installation.
Fault resolution and response times
The fault resolution component of a broadband SLA outlines how quickly your provider aims to fix a problem when something goes wrong.
The SLA may include financial compensation if your provider fails to resolve the issue within the target fix time.
The baseline fault resolution SLA refers to the standard level of service you can expect for fault resolution. Baseline fault resolution is typically determined by the type of fibre optic business broadband technology used.
The ‘premium option’ offers a faster resolution time for an additional monthly cost in your broadband contract.
| Broadband Type | Standard SLA Fix Time | Premium SLA Fix Time |
|---|---|---|
| SoGEA business broadband | Next business day | 4–8 hours (Enhanced SLA) |
| Virgin Media cable broadband | 24–48 hours | 12–24 hours (Enhanced SLA) |
| Full Fibre business broadband | 24–48 hours | 4–12 hours (Enhanced SLA) |
| Leased line business broadband | 4–6 hours (guaranteed 24/7 fix) | N/A |
Speed guarantees
Most business broadband contracts include a clause that allows customers to exit the agreement without penalty if the provider fails to deliver a promised minimum speed.
Providers typically define a minimum guaranteed download and upload speed during sign-up. It’s important to note that this is usually significantly lower than the advertised average speed of the service.
If you are not receiving the minimum guaranteed speed, we recommend contacting your provider’s customer services department, which will generally attempt to resolve the issue through engineering work.
The speed guarantee SLA applies when your provider is unable to resolve the lack of speed on your connection.
Read our complete guide to business broadband speeds for more information.
Latency guarantees
Latency guarantees are typically only included in premium full fibre and leased line contracts.
A latency SLA guarantees the maximum average delay, in milliseconds, that data packets experience when travelling across your provider’s network.
A typical latency SLA offered by a leased line provider is less than 20ms for connections within the provider’s UK network.
Latency is critical for large organisations using enterprise business VoIP phone systems, directly affecting VoIP call quality.
For more information, visit our guide to reducing latency in business networks.
Compensation for SLA breaches
When a business broadband provider fails to meet a promised service level, an SLA typically entitles the customer to compensation in the form of a service credit.
Each SLA defines the value of the credit. Here are the most common examples:
- A percentage discount on the monthly service fee
- A fixed amount per hour or day of the breach
The SLA compensation should appear as a discount against your usual business broadband prices on your next bill.
SLA tiers on business broadband deals
The best business broadband providers offer their customers a range of Service Level Agreements, allowing customers to tailor their broadband plans to suit their needs.
Typically, robust SLAs are included with faster or more expensive broadband types and are available as optional add-ons to more affordable plans.
Here are two examples of SLA tiers and add-ons offered by some of the biggest providers:
- Prompt care – BT business broadband offers next-day fault fixes on its “Pro” business broadband plans, or for a fixed additional monthly cost on other plans.
- Issue resolution – Virgin Media business broadband offers 12 working hours of fault resolution on its fastest packages, but only a 28-hour promise on its slowest.
What to look for in a Service Level Agreement?
Your broadband Service Level Agreement should meet the specific needs of your business. Here are three key questions to consider when evaluating your SLA requirements.
How much does your business rely on being online?
The upcoming PSTN switch off is making businesses increasingly reliant on a broadband to operate digital business phone lines.
The more essential broadband is to your operations, the stronger your uptime and fault resolution SLAs should be.
In addition to a strong SLA, a reliable business broadband connection can also be supported by:
- Using a 4G-backed business broadband router
- Having multiple connections with network load balancing
- Implementing a dedicated leased line failover solution
Are you moving premises and need new broadband fast?
A common situation arises when businesses require a new broadband connection at short notice after moving into new premises.
In this case, we recommend choosing a provider that offers a clear installation commitment, including financial compensation for any delays.
A temporary broadband solution can be provided via a 5G business broadband router for locations in towns and cities.
How much does your business rely on real-time applications?
Real-time applications such as VoIP, video calls, and VPNs require a stable broadband connection with low latency, minimal jitter, and minimal packet loss.
Where real-time applications are critical to your operations, we recommend choosing a business broadband contract with latency SLAs.
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