Broadband Guide

Bundle all the way

If you’re not already bundling your home telecoms services, perhaps its time you joined the millions of people who have already signed up for digital TV and home phone with their broadband.

Leading digital TV, phone and broadband packages

New players are entering the triple play market all the time, but the four major providers when it comes to broadband, home phone and digital television are BT (www.BT.com), Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com), Tiscali Broadband (www.Tiscali.co.uk) and Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com).

All four providers have different advantages over their competitors; BT offers an essentially free service with selected pay per view packages, Sky offers the best digital TV, Virgin Media has the fastest broadband and a great catch-up TV service while Tiscali has the cheapest prices.

Supplier	Package details	Speed (up to)	1st year cost	Monthly charge	Download limit	Go
	BT Starter - Option 1 Broadband + TV + Home Phone	8Mb	£318.33	£15.12	10GB
	Base Broadband + Sky TV (1 Pack) + Talk Freetime	2Mb	£228.00	£16.50	2GB
	Broadband: L + TV: L + Phone: M	10Mb	£268.00	£24.00	unlimited
	Option 2 - Broadband + TV + Anytime Talk + Free Line Rental	8Mb	£398.88	£24.99	unlimited

Once you have added on the £10 a month line rental with the Sky package the monthly total goes up to £26.50 a month. However, there are other things to be considered.

Broadband speeds - Virgin Media offers the UK’s fastest broadband package with speeds of up to 50Mb and began upgrading its 4Mb customers to 10Mb in May 2009. Virgin Media consistently rates highly in broadband speed tests and was voted the best Bundle Services ISP for Download Time in the BroadbandChoices.co.uk customer satisfaction survey 2009.
Phone rates - Call charges on all of these packages are expensive, though Virgin Media is the worst offender, with higher call costs and a set up fee of 8.8p per chargeable call.
TV channels - Sky offers a better selection of channels in its Surf See Speak than Virgin Media does in its 3 for £24 package, with all six entertainment packs and Sky+, though Virgin Media offers a great video on demand selection. However, Tiscali customers have access to Sky’s basic channels included in their packages, while BT Vision customers can choose to add on different packages on a monthly basis.
Bundle prices - Tiscali is definitely the cheapest with its triple play, plus free line rental, even compared to BT with its free BT Vision service.
Functionality - If you want to go for high definition television, video on demand and digital video recording, then Sky and Virgin Media both come out on top, though Tiscali now offers similar services and hardware.

Overall, Tiscali is cheaper than BT, Sky and Virgin Media but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better. You simply need to think about what your priority is.

Is it better not to bundle?

If you want all three services, but are worried about the costs of call charges, as BT, Sky, Tiscali and Virgin Media don’t offer very competitive rates, then you might be better off taking your home phone line from someone else.

Price wise, it’s very hard to beat Tiscali’s bundle price because of the free line rental, which you get automatically, along with inclusive weekend UK and selected international calls when you take out just the broadband and TV - as long as you live in a Tiscali local loop unbundled (LLU) area.

As with all such deals, you really need to take your needs into consideration. If you doubt that you will even use one of the services but are just getting it because it’s a good deal, then don’t - unless it really is still cheaper than the next competitor. Be realistic with yourself and don’t be tempted into signing up for something that will just be a waste of money.

What’s the future for bundling?

If you love the idea of bundling and want to take it to the next level, then Virgin Media can offer the ultimate in bundling. As well as offering home broadband, home phone and digital TV, Virgin Media also supplies mobile broadband and mobile phone packages.

The development of BT’s Openzone wireless network, and Fon service, means that BT customers can connect mobile phones, PDAs and laptops no matter where they are, using a combination of BT’s mobile broadband and inclusive wireless broadband minutes.

The development of BT’s Openzone wireless network, and Fon service, bringing wireless broadband to mobile phones, PDAs and laptops everywhere could has become a further element to the ISP’s offerings.

No matter what the next stage in bundling is, consumers won’t be turning their backs on bundles any time soon - the ease, and savings that can be made are just too tempting.

Use our Broadband Comparison Calculator to compare services and bundles and find the right deal for you.

Or click here to read our other articles on bundling home phone and broadband.