Free-to-air digital TV, or Freeview, is the latest in terrestrial television and a soon to be essential part of every household. That's because the digital switchover is looming ever closer and many areas of the country have begun turning off the old analogue signals before the 2012 deadline.

That means that everyone will need access to a free-to-air digital TV service in the near future. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to go about it and many providers of other communications and internet services offer free-to-air digital TV with added benefits for their customers. Let's look at the big players and what they have in store.

Virgin Media

If you live in a cabled area then Virgin Media offer some very attractive deals for both pay monthly and free-to-air digital TV. When you take a Virgin Media phone line, which you must with any package, you can add a free-to-air digital TV pack for virtually nothing. This will give you access to the 45+ Freeview digital TV channels as well as tons of radio stations and all the interactivity that digital TV offers.

On top of this, Virgin Media have a renowned on demand video service with access to BBC's catch up program iPlayer, as well as a Movie Bank with over 500 top film titles, all ready and waiting to begin.

BT

Customers of BT's Total Broadband service can access BT Vision, the free-to-air digital service which has the option of coming with a set top box to pause, rewind and record live TV. With no subscription you get over 70 Freeview channels and access to BT Visions exhaustive on demand video service where renting movies is just a few button presses away.

Sky

Long standing digital pioneers Sky offer free-to-air satellite TV which requires no monthly subscription, just the set up charges. This gives you over 100 freeview channels with plenty of obscure exclusives for niche markets, as well as the chance to view HD programs as well as record live TV if you opt for the Sky+ box. Customers in some areas will have no other option than Sky because their satellite service reaches places that the terrestrial free-to-air broadcasts can't. This is by no means a bad thing, but something you may have to consider when looking at all the great free-to-air packages out there.

Benefits of Free-to-air Digital TV

The benefits are clear, aside from the inevitability of the digital switchover. Firstly there's a much better picture quality available than analogue and with free-to-air HD channels open to Virgin and Sky customers there's the chance to take advantage of any HD ready TVs you may already own.

Then there's the sheer number of digital channels available without needing to pay a monthly subscription, covering sport, entertainment, current affairs and kids. On top of that there are loads of digital radio stations and interactive features available, including the ability to choose which match you want to watch during large sporting and in some cases interactive games.

Each provider also offers a video on demand service so you can watch your favourite shows and movies when you want to and at the moment there's no standalone freeview service which offers this.