October 19, 2005
Broadband 'triple play' in UK: Dégroupage total - how we need ye!

I'm having a look for a new internet connection. I recently moved, and the new place doesn't have a BT line (or an active one, at least). This is causing a bit of a predicament, as I would like to have some decent TV channels, fast internet (and if I have to, a telephone, although this is not a fixed requirement from me, but seems to be a fixed requirement from the vendors:)

Browsing for miscellaneous package deals;

  • NTL offers TV and telephone, but no internet in my new postcode (and if you want TV, you have to take the phone line. Duh.)
  • Homechoice offers TV and internet (8 Mbit/s!) but require a BT line
  • BT offers telephone and internet but no TV
  • Bulldog offers fast Internet and their own brand telephone line, no BT requirement, but no TV
France has pulled off the degroupage total allowing for triple-play services galore (see for example the Freebox: 20 Mbit/s internet, digital TV and telephone).

Where are the super-deals in UK...? Now I need either to pay BT for a telephone, then subsecibe to Homechoice, or pay for two telephone lines: Bulldog for my internet, NTL for the TV. No go.

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Comments

I was in the same predicament a few months ago. I went with BT phone & Internet and Sky TV. In hindsight I should have taken the BT line and gone with a cheaper broadband provider. Tiscali are £5 cheaper for the exact same deal I am on (2Mb with 25Gb of downloads). I called BT recently to complain about this and they said they would match Tiscali's price when my 12 month contract comes to an end if I choose to renew it with them. I don't think I will somehow.

As for Sky, will probably ditch that when the contract ends as I have a new TV on order with integrated digital tuner, freeview isn't as good as Sky but a great deal cheaper when you start weighing up the costs.

Posted by: Ben on November 9, 2005 05:32 PM
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Anders Jacobsen's blog: Hooking the HomeChoice modem/device up with a wifi router (October 20, 2005 06:29 PM)
"There is a lot of mixed messages online about this: HomeChoice support staff will only sell engineer-supported wifi installations and categorically do not answer questions about compatibility with third party (e.g. Linksys) wireless access points. Does..."

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