Digital TV Guides

Stand-alone digital TV

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

If you feel that a bundled digital TV, broadband and home phone package isn’t for you, you may want a stand-alone TV service. Here are your options… (Updated 10/12/09)

The trend for bundling doesn’t seem to be slowing, and regulator Ofcom recently reported that 45% of consumers in the UK were taking advantage of money-saving bundles.

However, while you might get a great TV package with a bundle, the broadband you receive as part of your all inclusive package might not be the best, and the cost of making calls will undoubtedly eat into any savings you’ve made.

Here’s our guide on how to ditch the bundle without sacrificing your favourite digital TV channels…

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Who offers digital TV?

There are a number of different digital TV providers, including Freeview (www.freeview.co.uk), Freesat and Top Up TV (www.topup.tv), all of which don’t require a 12-month subscription.

BT also offers digital TV via BT Vision (www.btvision.bt.com) where customers can either watch just the free-to-view programmes available in their area for no monthly cost, or they can add pay-per-view movies and programmes when required, or even add a range of subscriptions on a month-by-month basis.

Finally, Sky (www.sky.com), Tiscali TV (www.tiscali.co.uk) and Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) all offer subscription digital TV packages with much more choice than that available on free-to-view TV, but to which customers must sign-up for 12 months.

Why should I go for digital TV on its own?

When you take a money-saving bundle, you may be sacrificing some aspect of the service you get since your provider will always be trying to make a profit. This means that you could end up paying over the odds for your phone calls or getting a slow broadband connection with a low download limit.

If you won’t be using all of these services in equal measure then you might not mind, however, if they’re all of equal importance, you might want to consider getting each service from a separate provider that specialises in that area.

Broadband quality

The quality of the broadband that you get as part of a bundle varies depending on who you go with - but it’s not just speeds and download limits that you need to take into account - you need to think about the kind of service, and technical support, that you’ll get from your provider. You also need to look at the download limits you get with each package.

For example, although BT’s services are not part of a bundle, the broadband comparable to that of the tripleplay bundles from Sky and Virgin Media is Total Broadband Option 1 (www.bt.com) and offers speeds of up to 20Mb but has a download limit of only 10GB.

The broadband from Virgin Media is “unlimited” and subject to a fair usage policy but only runs at up to 10Mb, while Sky’s bundle offering is better with up to 10Mb and a decent 10GB download limit and costs a bit more.

However, you might want to go for a smaller provider that specialises in broadband and has a dedicated customer service and technical support team for its broadband customers. Both Madasafish (www.madasafish.com) and Eclipse (www.eclipse.net.uk) offer very good packages with excellent customer service. Taking your broadband separately also means you could sign-up to a provider like Be (www.bethere.co.uk) and get fast broadband of up to 24Mb.

Home phone charges

Getting your home phone as part of a bundle means that you’re unlikely to be getting the best value call charges so you should compare prices against the cost of getting you phone line from an independent provider.

Compare home phone packages.

Who does stand-alone digital TV?

If you decide to go for separate providers to get your digital TV and other services, then you won’t have the entire digital TV remit to choose from. Some providers, like BT, Tiscali TV and Virgin Media won’t supply digital TV unless you sign-up to other products that they offer.

So that leaves you with either Sky, Freeview or Freesat (plus add-on Top Up TV).

• Sky - If you go for Sky, you then have to choose how many “packs” you want. You pay £18 a month for one pack, going up by £1 for each additional pack you add, going up to £23 a month for all six entertainment packs - and you don’t have to take any other service from them. You also have the option of adding Sky Movies, Sky Sports or even ESPN for an additional cost.
• Freeview or Freesat - Your other options are to take Freeview of Freesat - which are both free - and if you do want more than the basic channels that you’ll get, you can add Top UP TV for £9.99 a month.

Click here to do a postcode search and see what’s available in your area, or click here to read more about each provider.

I want a TV bundle

If you have decided that you do want to bundle your digital TV, broadband and home phone, you need to think about your priorities and how you’ll use each service as this will affect the provider that you choose. Click here to read more on digital tripleplay bundles.