Ofcom has taken the decision to allow BT for the first time, to sell its digital TV, broadband and home phone packages as a combined “bundle deal”. Until now BT has not been allowed to discount the services when bought together as a single package. Instead customers have been obliged to pay the same price as if the services were bought separately.
This is good news for the consumer in the long run as BT is already planning aggressive discounts for customers taking their “triple play” bundle deal. However BT still has much to do to, to make their digital TV package called BT Vision competitive from a content perspective. BT Vision has so far struggled to attract customers reflecting the fact that it only offers Freeview (free to air) channels plus an on-demand library, much of which is pay per view. It does not therefore offer many of the “hero” channels popular in TV households, such as Sky One, National Geographic, Discovery, FX or Paramount Comedy. In addition BT Vision suffers from not offering Sky Sports, though it does offer ESPN Sports for free.
Research from Simplifydigital.co.uk, shows that there are big savings to be made by “bundling” services with a single provider. Customers who buy all three services from a single provider pay an average of £360 pa less than customers who buy the services from three different providers.
However as we all know, finding the best digital TV, broadband and home phone bundle deal is not as simple as it might seem. Bundle deals are complicated and there are literally thousands to choose from and no obvious place to go for impartial advice.
This is where Simplifydigital an really help. We offer impartial advice via London based experts over the phone (0800 466 1047) or online at www.simplifydigital.co.uk. What’s more we are the only retailer of digital TV, broadband and home phone services in the UK to be accredited by Ofcom as impartial.
This September, there are some great value budget digital TV, broadband and home phone bundles to choose from.
Sky offers the best selling basic triple play bundle. With their introductory package, the family can enjoy their basic TV package with approximately 200 channels including Sky One; a 2 Mb/sec broadband service and free evening and weekend calls for £28.50 per month including line rental.
BT’s triple play package is also very good value if you are not big TV viewers. The TV is provided via a standard TV aerial (and does not require a satellite dish) and is just the Freeview channels, with additional “on-demand” content, much of which is pay per view. The BT bundle includes a good quality up to 20 Mb/sec broadband package and free weekend calls for a similar price to the Sky package.
Virgin Media’s £25 per month package has the added appeal of fibre-optic broadband, which allows you to upgrade to super-fast speeds if the family demands it! Again for TV viewers, it’s worth noting that you are not going to receive Sky One.
Tiscali’s triple play is actually the cheapest of all at just £19.99 per month including line rental. The TV package has the added benefit of receiving Sky One. It does however have a very high £99 upfront set up cost.