Selecting your ideal digital TV, broadband and phone bundle is not easy. Here’s our guide to help you decide which package is best for your needs.
TV, Broadband and Phone Bundles – The Basics
A few years ago, things were very different – you normally bought your home phone, broadband and digital TV services from 3 different providers. Nowadays, it’s quite normal for one provider to offer you digital TV alongside broadband and a home phone service – these are often referred to as packages or bundles, as two or more services are ‘bundled’ together.
The biggest benefit from bundling your TV, broadband and phone services together is that you will usually save money. Providers like Sky and Virgin Media will discount the cost of their phone of broadband services if you sign up for 2 or 3 services with them.
Sky obviously have their strength in digital TV, but have added a high quality broadband service and home phone services to this, offering See Speak Surf packages at competitive prices.
Virgin Media, have offered digital TV with internet and home phone since the 1990’s, back when they were known as ntl and Telewest. Virgin Media now also offer ‘quadplay’, where the package includes a fourth service, a basic mobile phone subscription.
Talk Talk and BT also offer bundles of TV, broadband and phone services.
Why get a digital TV, broadband and phone bundle?
- Save money – The most obvious reason to get a digital package is to save money. By buying digital TV with one or more other services from the same provider you will save money when compared to buying the services standalone.
- One bill – Digital packages mean you can get all the services you want from one provider, which means one combined bill each month, saving hassle and reducing paperwork.
- Single point of contact – You only have to deal with one point of contact in case anything goes wrong or if you need to move house.
- Integration of services – Another plus is that by having a number of services from one provider, the integration of those services should offer better functionality to you particularly as broadband and TV services begin to combine in the coming years.
Tips for choosing your ideal TV, broadband and phone bundle
If you do think a digital package is right for you, keep these things in mind when choosing which one to go for:
- TV channels: Figure out which TV channels you want to watch. Freeview channels come as standard with all digital bundles, but if you want sports or movies channels you may have to choose particlular packages, providers and/or pay extra.
- Costs: be aware of the installation or start up costs as well as the monthly subscription and any special discounts.
- Broadband: if you want to get broadband, know what speed and download limit you will require. As a rough guide:
- A 2Mb broadband connection with 2GB download limit is sufficient for general browsing.
- A speed of up to 8Mb or 10Mb and a 40GB download limit is great for fast browsing and downloading music and photos.
- Anything faster that has no formal download limit is ideal for multiple PC use and downloads of movies and TV.
NB: video on demand services like BBC iPlayer can use up a lot of data each month.
- Home Phone: Most digital bundles do not include the cost of line rental in their packages. If they do not include it as part of the price, you will need to continue paying BT (or the equivalent) for your line rental.
- Equipment: Most digital packages come with standard equipment but you may have to pay a one off charge. If you want to upgrade to a Sky+ box or equivalent, then remember you can usually customise the package when you order but may have to pay more up front.
- Contract Length: Most digital packages have 12 month minimum contracts, but there are a few that are 18 months.
- Location: Unfortunately, not all digital packages are available in all areas, if you find that the provider you wanted is not available on your area, there are always alternatives.
Are there downsides to digital packages?
It can be quite tricky to compare and choose the right digital package as each provider tends to offer a slightly different service. The digital package may come with a service that you may not really want, but that’s where we can help – our digital tv provider profiles will help you find the best digital package for your needs.
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