Digital TV Guides

TV, broadband and phone packages

Updated: Tuesday 6 July, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

If you’re looking to save money on your digital TV package - and possibly get a few added extras - consider bundling it with your home phone and broadband services.

Digital TV providers such as Sky, Virgin Media and BT all offer some great digital TV bundled packages. The table below shows some of the best TV, broadband and phone deals on offer in the UK:

TV, broadband and phone packages

Company	Package Name	Channels	Broadband	Home Phone
	Sky Entertainment TV + HD + Sky Broadband Unlimited + Talk Freetime	Get channels like Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic and more
	TV Essential + More Broadband and Calls	70 Freeview channels
	TV: L + Broadband: L + Phone: M	100 channels including Virgin 1, Sky1, Comedy Central, Bravo and many more

Bundling is one of the easiest ways to save money on your monthly household bills. By taking all your home entertainment and telecoms products from one provider, you’ll not only reduce the number of bills you receive, you’ll also reduce the number of direct debits you have to pay - saving a lot of hassle each month.

If you prefer to keep your broadband connection with another provider, please see our guide to TV and phone packages instead.

Bundle packages - what should you know

There are several benefits to bundling your services, as well as several disadvantages. It’s important you know both before deciding whether to get all your services from one provider. Things you should consider are:

Advantages

1. Cost - Bundling is the best way to get all the services that you want at an affordable monthly price.
2. Add-ons - Because TV packages are so competitive, many providers now offer “free” add-ons, such as “free” digital cable TV from Virgin Media, which is included when you take a cable phone line.
3. Bills - Only having to pay one bill a month cuts down on time and effort.

Disadvantages

1. Quality - Sometimes the free services included in your bundle may not be the best products on offer, such as only getting free weekend calls with a Virgin Media bundle - to have free evening calls, you’ll have to pay extra.
2. Tempting offers - Try not to be enticed by free or discounted bundled products that you might not necessarily need, such as extra premium channels or call plan add-ons.

Overall, bundling your services with one provider can help you reduce your monthly household bills. However it’s important you bundle carefully, only choosing the products that you are actually going to use and need.

Bundling your services can sometimes also give you the benefit of free installation, though this will depend on the provider and the number of services you are taking with them and what special deals are available at any given time. Use our digital TV price comparison calculator to help you find a package that suits your and your family’s needs.

So, who offers bundles? There’s more information about the bundled packages on offer below:

Sky TV, phone and broadband

Bundling your TV, home phone and broadband with Sky (www.sky.com) is one of the cheapest ways of getting all three of your services, and can save you loads of money on your household bills - as well as reduce the number of bills you receive.

Sky also offers a range of premium subscription channels, including Sky Sports, Sky Movies and ESPN, as well as all the basic channels you would find on Freeview. Sky’s channels are divided into entertainment “packs”. To find out more, read our guide on Sky channels.

• Cost - Sky’s cheapest TV, phone and broadband bundle costs £19 a month, plus line rental (you don’t have to take this from Sky, but Sky offers it at £11 a month). You’ll get one Sky entertainment “pack”, Sky’s basic broadband package with a 2GB download limit and speeds of up to 20Mb, and Sky Talk with free evening and weekend calls.
• Recommendation - If your family can never decide what to watch, consider subscribing to Sky Multiroom. You’ll be able to watch different programmes in different rooms for only £10 extra a month. You can get an additional standard Sky box, or Sky+ or Sky+HD box for each extra room you want Sky TV in and you can customise your Sky Multiroom set-up to suit your household.

Sky’s phone and broadband packages are only available in certain areas though, so you will need to do a postcode check first before switching.

Virgin Media TV, phone and broadband

Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) is the UK’s biggest cable TV provider. Not only can you combine your digital TV, broadband and home phone services with Virgin Media, but also a mobile broadband subscription too. You can also get a good deal on a Virgin Mobile phone contract if you’re a Virgin Media customer.

• Cost - Virgin Media’s cheapest package costs just £18 a month, plus £11.99 a month line rental. You’ll get 65 digital TV channels, broadband with speeds of up to 10Mb and unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines.
• Recommendation - If you’re looking for a TV service with a digital TV recorder, the Virgin Media V+HD box lets you pause, rewind and record “live” TV. You can record two shows, while watching a third and watch movies on-demand in high-definition. It costs £75, plus a £5 a month subscription for size M+ and L customers, or is free for XL subscribers.

Remember though, that Virgin Media’s cable services are currently only available in certain parts of the country, so you will have to do a postcode search first to find out if you live in a cable area.

BT Vision TV, broadband and phone

BT (www.bt.com), the UK’s biggest home phone provider, also offers digital TV and broadband packages, meaning you’ll get all three services in one convenient monthly bill.

BT Vision is a internet TV (IPTV) service, offering you a selection of on-demand TV channels as well as the basic Freeview ones, through your broadband connection. You can get BT Vision with or without a subscription, but you stand to save more money by subscribing to a monthly package.

• Cost - BT’s cheapest bundle - which offers BT Vision, BT Total Broadband and a home phone contract - costs just £17.99 a month. You will also have to pay for BT line rental, which is £11.54 a month.
• Recommendation - If you’re a sports fan but don’t want to pay a hefty subscription each month, BT Vision Value Pack customers can get ESPN for free. After a one-off payment for a viewing card, you’ll have access to 23 live Barclays Premier League matches and 30 live Clydesdale Bank Premier League matches during the 2010/11 season.

Like Sky, BT Vision channels are divided into “packs”, letting you pick and choose which ones you subscribe to.