Bundling Digital TVBy 2012 everyone in the UK must have a digital TV connection. If they haven't made the switch to digital by the time their area switches over, they will lose the old analogue signal and won't be able to keep up with their favourite programmes. The massive growth in the broadband and digital TV market, along with ever-decreasing home phone costs has led to many companies offering 'bundles', allowing customers to save money by taking all their home telecommunications services from the same provider.
Bundles on offer
Virgin Media offers the ultimate in bundling, offering what they call a 'quadplay' of services where you can combine not just their digital TV service, broadband and home phone, but also your Virgin Mobile contract. In fact, you can no longer get their digital TV as a stand-alone product - it has to be bundled with either their home phone or their broadband.
Sky offers three services from their See Speak Surf bundle - digital TV, broadband and home phone, although their digital TV service is still available on its own.
Tiscali TV also offers this 'tripleplay' bundle.
BT does offer all of these services - home phone, BT Total Broadband and BT Vision – but they don't come as a money-saving bundle.
Reasons to bundle
Bundling is the cheapest way to get the services that you want, all on one easy bill. Bundles have become so competitive that you can now get 'free' add-ons too. These offer you extra services, at no extra cost to what you're already paying - like Virgin Media's 'free' digital TV which offers a set-top box and digital channels for the cost of your monthly home phone. The ease afforded by bundling is also tempting - you have only one company to pay for all your home entertainment services.
Possible drawbacks
Quality is one of the bigger issues with bundling. Since the major attraction is the price, many people opt for the 'free' or ludicrously cheap packages, only to find that they really do get what they pay for. However, if good digital TV is your main concern then you shouldn't worry too much, but if you also want high-quality broadband and cheap calls you might want to consider getting your services from separate suppliers or going for one of the higher-end packages available. Also, make sure that you're not tempted into paying that little bit extra for a service that you don't really want and won't really use. While this might only be around £3 a month, it all adds up.
Cost of bundling
Sky's See Speak Surf bundle costs £26 per month - for which price you get six digital TV 'mixes' as well as up to 8Mb broadband and a home phone. But you'll have to pay £11 a month on top to BT for your line rental, bringing total the cost up to £37 a month.
Virgin Media's similar 3 for £30 bundle offers less channels, up to 2Mb broadband and a home phone, though there's no extra line rental to pay and you might get a better broadband connection (unless you're lucky enough to live next to the BT exchange).
Tiscali's offering costs £19.99 a month for basic digital TV, up to 8Mb broadband and a home phone and you don't have to pay line rental on top either. The major drawback in this offer is the fact that at the moment it is only available in a very limited area. But as Tiscali rolls out its digital TV (formerly HomeChoice) and unbundles more exchanges this will become a very competitive offer.
Because BT's services have to be bought separately, they aren't really a bundle, so you won't save money by taking all of them together. An Option 2 phone line, with Option 1 broadband and BT Vision will set you back £32.44 a month (including line rental) or £46.44 a month if you take the three BT Vision packages with your TV service.
Time to make the move?
Is it time to start considering bundling your home telecommunications services? Millions of people have already signed up for digital television services and as the Government switches off the old analogue signal, we will all have to find an alternative to the old analogue signal. Bundling saves you time and money; by taking your broadband, home phone, digital TV and even line rental from the save provider you can cut your bills and save yourself the hassle of dealing with four different companies. |
