Need broadband? Ready to switch? Get fair, unbiased advice in a language you understand so you make the right choice.
Bundling your broadband with phone calls
With an increasing portfolio of services, bundling doesn’t seem to be a passing phase - you can now combine not only your broadband and home phone, but also your digital TV and even your mobile phone with even more money saving packages.
With so many promotions and offers around at the moment, bundles are starting to get confusing. Do they really save you time and money, or is it better to get your services from the cheapest individual providers?
The answer to this all depends on your personal needs. On what you want and on what you will actually use, so keep this in mind at all times.
Leading bundle Phone and Broadband packages
Although headline rates can make a package seem attractive, you need to take into account things like additional line rental that has to be paid on some packages. For example, TalkTalk’s (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) Talk2 International has a headline rate of just £5.89 a month and comes with free broadband, but when you take the £10.50 line rental into account, this rises to £16.39 a month - more than Tiscali (www.Tiscali.co.uk) which has a headline rate of £14.99 but comes with free line rental instead.
Free line rental if you live in a Tiscali local loop unbundled area
Before rushing to purchase a broadband and phone bundle it is important to look at the details of your chosen package. Call rates are a particular area where companies can make back some of the money they lose on their low headline rates:
Company
Inclusive Calls
Example - Calls to Orange mobile
Example - Calls to landlines, Australia
Need to know?
Virgin Media
Free local and national calls at weekends
15p per minute daytimes, 10p in the evening
26p per minute at all times
7p set up fee
Toucan
Free local and national calls at weekends
13p per minute weekdays, 8p evenings and 5p weekends
3p per minute at all times
3p set up fee
TalkTalk
Free local and national calls at all times
12p per minute weekdays, 7p at weekends
Free, but 5p per minute at all times outside of inclusive tariff
6p connection fee
Tiscali
Free local and national calls at weekends
12p per minute daytimes, 7p in the evenings
19.2p per minute weekdays, 7.2p at weekends and evenings
6p call set up fee
What if I make lots of phone calls?
From the second table it’s clear to see that there’s more to any broadband and home phone bundle than just the headline rate. If you are a high, or even moderate, home phone user you might benefit by paying for a slightly more expensive option that could save you money in the long run through cheaper call charges.
For example, if you’re a light home phone user whose main priority is to have high quality, fast broadband then Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) is a great choice. Regularly appearing at the top of the BroadbandChoices.co.uk speed test table, Virgin Media’s broadband is reliable and fast. Tiscali also regualarly features in the top five providers.
What if I'm a light home phone user?
On the other hand, if you rely heavily on your home phone, then you really need a call plan that’s not going to cost the earth. If this is the case then you’re probably better off going for Toucan (www.Toucan.com) or TalkTalk who offer cheaper call rates. However, the quality of your broadband won’t be as good - in December 2007, Toucan and TalkTalk customers received little more than 35 per cent of their advertised speed on average.
Ditch the bundle and build your own
The final option, if you want a cheap call package, with cheap line rental - and cheap calls - but don’t want to sacrifice the quality of your broadband, is to ditch the whole idea of bundling and go for separate providers that will give you the best of what you want. Combining Be Broadband (www.BeThere.co.uk) - which provides the UK’s fastest residential broadband at speeds of up to 24Mb - with Toucan’s £3.75 call package and £8.99 line rental is the way to do this.
Taking the Be Unlimited broadband package for £18 a month with Toucan and you get a total of £30.74 a month. While this does cost more per month than the cheapest bundles, you’re guaranteed to get the best value, and quality, broadband and home phone calls, without sacrificing your services.
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