Rob Barnes, Head of Broadband and Mobile Phones
You shouldn't put all your eggs into one basket - unless of course that basket saves you a lot of money.
That's the theory behind so-called bundle services, where a provider combines a number of different home services products such as broadband, home phone and television into one simple monthly payment from one provider - saving you cash and the hassle of dealing with several bills each month.
There's certainly money to be saved by bundling, but with more than 530,000 possible product combinations to choose from, how do you know which one is right for you? And could you be better off choosing the cheapest broadband deal, the cheapest television deal and the cheapest phone deal separately?
The leading bundled deals on the market
Choosing a bundled deal really depends on how many services you want to combine - you can pick up a broadband deal alongside any combination of TV, phone and even mobile phone services. Virgin is currently the only provider in the UK to offer a 'quad play' deal - meaning all four services are converged together.
If you simply want to combine your home phone and broadband services then Talktalk has one of the most attractive packages on the market. The Talk International Evening and Weekend and free Broadband deal includes download speeds up to 8Megabits (Mb) with a 40Gigabyte (GB) cap - more than enough for heavy internet users. It also ties in free UK evening and weekend calls and free international calls to 36 destinations, including mobiles in the USA and Canada. All of this costs £16.39 a month on an 18-month contract.
Talktalk had some well documented customer service issues following its launch into the broadband market two years' ago and because of this some people are understandably wary of signing up to the firm. Our editor, Clare Francis, interviewed Talktalk's marketing director and asked him whether or not consumers should be nervous about service issues. Click here to see what he had to say.
While Talktalk's deal includes broadband and home phone, bundles that also offer television are proving increasingly popular.
By 2012, everyone who watches TV will need some kind of digital service as Britain's analogue service will be slowly switched off, region by region. The cheapest way to get digital television is through a Freeview box, which can cost as little as £20 and comes with around 40 channels. However, if you want the likes of Sky Sports and Sky Movies you'll need a broadband TV, satellite or cable package. Consequently, this is a good time to shop around if you haven't already made the switch.
The cheapest broadband, phone and television deal is Sky See, Surf and Speak which has download speeds up to 2Mb, a 2GB cap, free UK evening and weekend calls and a variety or entertainment channel mix of your choice on a 12-month contract. The minimum monthly fee is £16, but you may pay more depending on what television package you opt for.
If you want faster download speeds however, you may be willing to pay a little more. Tiscali Option One and BT Total Broadband Option Three both offer 8Mb speeds with unlimited* downloads. Both also include free UK evening and weekend calls. The difference is that Tiscali offers a TV variety package with 60 digital TV and radio channels for £18.99 a month whereas BT offers 70 digital TV and radio channels for £24.99 a month - a £30 connection fee also applies.
If you want a cable service, Virgin is the only option. One of its best value packages is the 3 for £30 offer with 2Mb unlimited* downloads, free UK weekend calls and more than 90 digital TV channels.
How do bundled deals compare to separate services?
Both Talktalk and Sky offer broadband at no extra cost making it impossible to save money by de-bundling. Sky Base for example, with speeds up to 2Mb and a 2GB cap, is free for existing Sky customers. However, that doesn't mean that you can't find more appropriate deals by separating your services.
For example, light internet users may be drawn to the PlusNet Option One deal which costs £9.99 a month with speeds up to 8Mb and a 1GB capacity. PlusNet also has an outstanding customer reputation so reliability is a big attraction. Heavy internet users meanwhile may be interested in the O2 standard broadband package with speeds up to 8Mb, a 16GB cap and a free wireless router.
A real alternative to bundled services has emerged in the form of mobile broadband - available from 3, T-Mobile, Orange and Vodafone. These packages give you internet access wherever you are using a laptop and a 'dongle' - a dongle is a portable modem. For more information on mobile broadband deals, read 'Is this the end for landlines?'.
What to think about before you shop around
Before searching for a bundled package, or any combination of services, it's best to think about exactly what you want from each element of your deal. Have a budget in mind and stick to it, but within that budget try and find a deal that offers all you would expect if you picked up three separate services.
Here are some of the factors you might want to consider:
- Broadband - How regularly do you use the internet? If you are a heavy user you may require a large download cap or even unlimited downloads. How important is speed to you? Remember that 512kilobits per second is 10 times faster than dial-up and 1Mb downloads are twenty times as fast. Most broadband packages offer super-fast speeds in the region of 8Mb and potentially as high as 24Mb. Do you require online protection, email addresses, or do you want a freebie such as a wireless router? If you have all your computer hardware already, a free offer may hold no value to you.
- Phone - When do you use the phone and how often? If you're out of the house during the daytime you could take advantage of free evening and weekend calls. However, if you work from home you may be better off with an anytime call package. Do you have friends or family overseas? Does your phone package include international minutes?
- Television - How often do you watch television? How important is it to you to have a large number of television channels? Are there any specific packages that you want to be included in your deal - such as a sports package or a movies package? Do you want to be able to record, pause and rewind live TV?
Once you've answered these questions, shop around using a comparison website to find the deal that most closely matches your needs. If this comes in the form of a neat bundled deal, great. If not, you may be willing to pay a little extra to get the services you want separately.
Have your say: Can you offer advice to anyone considering a broadband bundle? If so, visit our community forum and share your experience.
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Disclaimer: Please note that any rates or deals mentioned in this article were available at the time of writing.
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