Bundling together your television, internet and phone requirements is an inviting prospect for many reasons – not least of which being the monthly savings that you could make. If you’re a heavy user of the internet and could probably do with a faster connection, if you enjoy watching TV but are fed up of missing the shows that everyone is harping on about, or if you love talking to your loved ones on the phone but don’t like the cost incurred, a bundle may be the ideal option.
Before you jump in and sign up for the first bundle you see, you should consider the following points, so that the choice you make is the best one for your individual circumstances.
Products
While most of the bundles available include the standard TV, phone and broadband services, there are, inevitably, differences between them. The different companies provide different products and will appeal for varying reasons. Whether its recommendations from friends or family, online reviews or something else that makes you go for a particular company, make sure you do choose one that provides the right products for your needs.
Do you want a TV package that has 230+ channels with the option of adding sports and movies? Do you want unlimited weekend calls? Do you want fibre-optic broadband, up to 152mb and 16x faster than regular broadband? These are just 3 of the considerations you need to make.
Be aware that Virgin Media now gives customers the option of adding a mobile SIM to their bundles, meaning that if you were to sign up to one of their big bundles, you could merge your mobile phone too.
Availability
Bear in mind that not all companies will be able to offer you their packages, depending on where you live. Use postcode checkers to see what services and providers are available to you. If you’re a tenant, you may require permission from your landlord too, especially if you’re considering satellite TV.
Line Rental
Also remember that, if you sign up for a bundle that includes a phone package, you will need to pay line rental and this is often extra, on top of the bundle price. While this can still be cheaper than paying for the services separately, you do need to consider this when doing your sums.
If you opt for satellite TV, you will need a phone line regardless.
On Demand
If you love the idea of an On Demand service, it’s recommended that you sign up for a bundle that includes a broadband service to accommodate it. On Demand services use your broadband connection to allow you to download shows from a TV library, so if your broadband is slow, you could be waiting a while for your shows to download; plus, if you have a small bandwidth allocation, you could end up using it all in next to no time!
Sit down and weigh up the pros and cons of the various bundles and choose one that will suit you and what you want the bundle to achieve. There’s almost certainly one out there that will be perfect for you – it’s just a case of finding it.
