Digital TV Providers

BT Vision

Updated: Friday 2 July, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

If you’re a BT Total Broadband customer, you could save money on your digital TV bills by subscribing to BT Vision, the television service from the telecoms giant.

BT offers its customers an internet TV service through their broadband connection. If you connect your BT Vision set-top box to a digital TV aerial, you’ll get all the Freeview channels available in your area, as well as a range of subscription on-demand TV programmes as extras.

If you want to get BT Vision, sign-up for BT Total Broadband today.

What is BT Vision?

If you're already a BT customer, you could get BT Vision (www.bt.vision.co.uk), the digital TV service from the broadband giant, using your BT broadband connection. BT delivers its on-demand TV service to a set-top box via your telephone line. The set-top box can also be connected to your TV aerial to get the Freeview channels that are available in your area.

What does BT Vision offer?

If you want to subscribe to BT Vision, you have a choice of different viewing packs covering Music, Kids, Sports, and Films. These packs are delivered to your set-top box through your home phone line, so won’t be affected by any Freeview issues, such as atmospherics or the digital switchover. You will have to pay for these packs though.

BT Vision offers three packages; Bronze, Silver and Gold, with TV and Replay included with each one and an option of two, three or all four viewing packs depending on your tariff.

Why should I get BT Vision?

Essentially, customers with BT Vision do not have to pay a monthly subscription. You can have BT Vision as a free digital TV service offering only the Freeview channels and no monthly fees.

However, you will have to live in a Freeview area and will have to pay the full price for your Vision+ set-top box. BT’s philosophy is that “if you only watch one film this year you should only pay for one film this year,” so BT Vision works a bit like a pick ‘n’ mix TV service.

All BT Vision customers will have access to the Freeview channels and digital radio stations available in their area, as well as the option of only ever paying for those extras that they want, such as films, music videos and television programmes, on-demand when they want to watch them.

Will BT Vision affect my internet?

BT Vision’s on-demand TV viewing doesn't count towards your broadband download usage. This means you can watch as much on-demand entertainment as you want without exceeding your broadband usage guidelines.

BT Vision broadband TV also has a separate allocation of bandwidth so that it's not affected by congestion at peak times.

What do I need for BT Vision?

You must have BT Total Broadband to get BT Vision digital TV - sign-up for BT Total Broadband online if you’re not already a customer. You will also need two standard electricity sockets, which will be used to power the wireless BT Home Hub and the BT Vision set-top box. These must be located near to your TV. If you only have one electricity socket, you’ll need to buy an extension cable.

BT Vision connects to your TV using a SCART or HDMI cable (supplied by BT). You’ll also need a television aerial to connect to your Vision+ box so you can receive the Freeview digital TV and radio channels and benefit from the personal video recorder (PVR) function, which has up to 80 hours of space for your favourite TV shows.

To get the Freeview channels, you’ll also need to be in an area that’s already switched to digital. If you can’t get Freeview TV, you'll be able to use BT Vision's on-demand and interactive services, and you’ll be able to watch the regular, analogue TV channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4) through your TV aerial. However, you won’t be able to use digital video recorder functions on these channels, like pausing and recording live TV.