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Broadband Television and Phone Bundles

Our Broadband Expert says...

Hi Spencer, thanks for providing me with your postcode. I’ve checked the range of broadband products available in your area with our broadband search tool, and these are the options open to you at the present time: Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) triple play bundle, Sky (www.sky.com) triple play bundle, and BT Vision (www.bt.com).

Virgin Media Bundle

Virgin Media offer a 3 for £30 bundle consisting of broadband, home phone and TV services. The broadband download speed is up to 2Mbps, and the digital TV service allows you access to over 40 channels. Also incorporated is a free catch-up service, TV on demand and the V+ box.

Your favourite Sky Channels (Sky One, Sky Sports, Sky Movies etc.) will be missing from the Virgin Media electronic program guide (EPG), so bare that in mind. These channels can be added at an additional cost of £24 a month for Sky Sports 1, or £37 a month for all Sky Sports and Sky Movies channels. Virgin Media will gift you Setanta Sports if you sign up for Sky Sports 1, which represents a saving of £9.99.

Virgin Media consistently hit their mark with download speeds (see the Broadband Choices speed test awards for 2007, and monthly speed test results for April 2008), but have recently announced plans to excessively penalise heavy downloaders.

Phone calls are pricey though. Calls to UK landlines cost 3.25p a minute, and calls to mobile network operators can cost anything up to 27p a minute. By comparison, TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk) include 100 calltime minutes to mobile phones in their starter ‘Talk Total Evening and Weekend’ package, and free calls to UK landlines during evenings and weekends. Additionally, a 7p connection charge applies to all non-inclusive calls, and call charges are rounded up to the nearest minute.

Sky Bundle

Sky bundled packages begin at £16 a month for the base broadband deal. This entry level bundle comprises a 2Mb broadband connection, home phone facilities and one selection from Sky’s channel mix pool (potentially up to 40 channels in total).

In order to incorporate Sky Sports and Sky Movies into your Sky bundle, you need to build yourself a bespoke package online before ordering. Adding Sky Sports 1 or Sky Movies 1 to your bundle can cost up to an extra £10 a month, depending on the number of premium channels you choose. The more you select, the cheaper they are.

Opting for a Sky Plus box ahead of a standard Sky Box will cost you a one off fee of £99. Virgin Media’s TV on demand service and access to iPlayer is superior to Sky’s at the present time.

Sky phone calls again are relatively expensive, 3.25p a minute to UK landlines and up to 11.88p a minute to mobile networks. These rates are cheaper than Virgin Media however. A 6p call connection charge applies to all non-inclusive calls, and all call charges are rounded up to the nearest minute.

Try combining Sky broadband and TV with the Toucan (www.toucan.com) ‘All You Can’ phone plan. The Toucan phone plan undercuts Sky in three ways:

• Line rental is cheaper (£8.99 versus £10)

• Call connection fee is cheaper (4.5p versus 6p)

• Calls to UK landlines cost just 3p a minute

The Sky 2Mb broadband service came second to Virgin Media in the 2007 Broadband Choices speed test awards.

Unsure of your broadband speed? Take a test with the Broadband Choices speed tester.

By strategically combining broadband, phone and TV packages in this way, you will ensure that you make the most of your bundle.

BT Vision

As an existing BT customer, you may consider BT Vision as a possible TV option. In order to receive BT Vision, you must have BT Total Broadband with a ‘Home Hub’ wireless router. BT Vision works in a similar vein to Virgin Media’s TV on demand service, allowing you to download TV shows and films.

The range of channels is more limited with BT Vision, which is essentially a Freeview box with features, but by opting for a BT Vision ‘VBox’ you will be able to pause and rewind live TV. The VBox is supplied free with a £30 connection cost. BT Vision entertainment packages begin at £4 a month.

If the BT Vision channel selection is too limited for your tastes, consider a Freesat product with over 200 music, sports, entertainment and lifestyle channels. Freesat can be bought and installed for a one off payment of £150.

Monthly Cost Comparison

...and finally

It’s important to ascertain exactly which component of the bundle means the most to you, and hone in on a product where this component is the jewel in the crown.

Avid telly addicts may gravitate towards the broad range of content on offer with Sky, whereas those who want a fast and reliable broadband service might be swayed by Virgin Media.

If you spend a lot of time on the phone then the Tiscali call rates will appeal, and the Sky and Virgin Media bundles may lose some of their glitz.

In terms of the Virgin Media bundle versus the Sky bundle, Virgin Media just pip Sky at the post, although Sky make it very easy for existing customers to bundle their services if they don’t already.

Don’t forget, there’s always the possibility of splitting your broadband, phone and TV services across two suppliers, thus tailoring your bundle and making savings at the same time.

NB Best buy tables (orange background) are always current.

Examples in the text of the article (white background) are correct at time of publication.

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If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at OurExpert@broadbandchoices.co.uk

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