Reviewing a business broadband and IT contract

A business broadband and IT contract bundles the connection the business depends on with the support it calls when something breaks, on one monthly fee and one minimum term, from a provider that resells the connectivity and delivers the support itself. The bundle's terms decide what the provider promises about uptime, what support is included, who owns the router and the firewall, and what the business can take with it when it leaves. I review the contract from the customer's side and return it marked up with a written explanation of the changes and which ones a provider will accept, for a fixed fee of £495 in three working days.

Who this is for

Businesses in England and Wales signing or renewing a contract for business broadband, a leased line or a wireless connection with managed IT support, a helpdesk, device management or cloud services bundled with it, from a managed service provider or a reseller. The customer and the provider are businesses; the Ofcom conditions on the connectivity element give additional protection to businesses with ten or fewer employees.

What to look for in a business broadband and IT contract

The connectivity: service levels, the underlying carrier and the Ofcom conditions

The provider resells a connection from an underlying carrier, and its ability to fix a fault depends on the carrier's service level. The review checks the availability target, the fault repair time and the compensation for loss of service, whether the provider passes through the carrier's own commitments, and whether a leased line carries the guaranteed service the price implies. The connectivity element is a communications service subject to the general conditions Ofcom sets under section 45 of the Communications Act 2003, which regulate the contract term, renewal and switching and protect businesses with ten or fewer employees against roll-over into a new minimum term.

The IT support: what is included and what is charged

Managed IT contracts describe support in terms that sound complete and are not: unlimited remote support during business hours, on-site visits at a day rate, projects excluded, third-party software excluded, and a fair use policy. The review asks for the supported devices, users, software and sites to be listed, for response and resolution times by severity, for the hours of cover, for what counts as a project and how it is priced, and for the provider's obligation to keep systems patched and backed up to be stated as an obligation with a frequency.

Equipment: routers, firewalls and licences

The bundle includes a router, a firewall, sometimes switches and wireless access points, and software licences the provider holds in its own name. The review checks whether the equipment is sold, hired or provided as part of the service, who owns it at the end, whether the licences are transferable, and who holds the administrator credentials for the firewall, the domain, the email tenancy and the cloud accounts, which should be the customer's or held for the customer with a right to have them handed over on request.

Security, data and the provider's access to everything

An IT support provider has administrator access to every system and processes the customer's personal data as a processor. The contract needs the Article 28 terms required by the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, a statement of the security measures the provider applies to its own access, breach notification without undue delay, and controls on the provider's staff, whose unauthorised access would be an offence under section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. The review also checks whether the provider's cyber security accreditation and its cyber insurance are stated in the contract rather than on its website.

The bundle's term, the price and the exit

One term for the bundle means the business cannot change its IT provider without losing its connection, or the reverse. The review asks for the connectivity and the support to be terminable separately, for price increases to be capped, for termination for persistent service failure, and for exit assistance: handover of credentials, documentation, backups and licences, migration support at a stated rate, and cooperation with the incoming provider. Early termination charges are checked against the provider's real loss, since a charge out of all proportion to its legitimate interest is unenforceable under Cavendish Square Holding BV v Makdessi [2015] UKSC 67.

Liability for outages, data loss and the provider's exclusions

The provider's terms will exclude loss of business, loss of data and consequential loss, cap liability at the fees for a short period, and offer a service credit as the only remedy for an outage. Where the terms are the provider's standard form, section 3 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 subjects those exclusions to the reasonableness test, and the review asks for data loss caused by the provider's failure to perform its backup obligations to be within the cap rather than excluded, for a separate higher cap for security failures and data protection breaches, and for the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 position on fees to be stated.

What it costs

Standard review, £495. Marked-up document and a written explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the contract review page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• Your own contract returned with my amendments as tracked changes, plus a clean version with every change accepted, ready to send to the other side
• Comments in the document where a point needs explaining
• A written explanation of what I have changed and why, by email or as an attachment if it is lengthy, marking the points I would hold firm on and the ones that are negotiable
• A view on what is normal market practice and what is the other side pushing their luck
• One round of follow-up questions by email, included

What is not included

• Negotiating directly with the other side, which I quote separately once I know who is on the other side. Where the other side is willing to share a live document, I can work in that document directly
• Drafting a replacement contract from scratch
• Advice on the law of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales
• Tax, accounting or regulatory advice
• Disputes about a contract that is already signed

Questions I am often asked

The provider says support is unlimited but charges for everything we ask. What does the contract include?

What the scope clause says, which is usually remote support in business hours for listed devices, with projects and third-party issues excluded. The review asks for the supported systems, the hours, the response times and the definition of a project to be written into the contract, so that 'unlimited' has an edge.

Who owns the firewall and the domain?

The contract decides, and providers hold equipment and administrator credentials in their own names. The review asks for equipment ownership to be stated, for the domain, email tenancy and cloud accounts to be in your name, and for credentials to be handed over on request and on exit.

Can we change IT provider without losing our broadband?

Only if the contract lets the two be terminated separately, and a single bundle term usually does not. The review asks for separate termination rights, for the connectivity to be portable to a new provider, and for exit assistance so that the changeover does not stop the business.

Related guidance and services

• Contract review, £495, the service this page describes
• Data protection agreements and privacy terms, £795
• Reviewing a business telecoms contract
• Reviewing an IT outsourcing agreement

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.