Broadband with Telephony Package

cormie

Hi,
I still haven't changed from UTV Clicksilver and UTV Talk to any other offer. I suppose I'm afraid of downtime and I've read a lot of bad reports on BT billing etc.

I got a call from Eircom saying they now charge €39 which is inclusive of line rental, answering machine, billing and also gives free local and national calls any time. This seems to be on par with what BT offer.

However, I want broadband too. I'm quite sure my initial 12 month contract is up for UTV Clicksilver and TALK and I haven't signed any new contract.

What is the best option? I want the cheapest always on (no time limit) BB option available, cap isn't really an issue, I'm on 8GB PM at the moment with UTV which I've never had a problem with so that's fine. I think I'm on 512KBPS at a 1/48 ratio with Clicksilver too. Again, this is fine and wouldn't want to pay more for a smaller ratio and larger cap. So basically, the cheapest always on BB option.

Telephone wise, free local and national any time calls are very important. Ireland to UK isn't really an issue as we rarely call the UK and there is telestunt if we need to. Mobile calls are quite important too as there is quite a lot spent on mobile calls.

So what is currently the best offer for cheap always on BB and free local and national calls with cheap mobile calls?

Would really appreciate some feedback as it's time we got this sorted:o

bk

You should wait until the end of the month, there are new packages coming from all the BB companies, including a new entry level always on package for about €20 - €25.

At the moment BT + Line Rental for €40 is probably the best. You can get unlimited calls by adding an extra €20. (the same BB + line rental + calls costs €80 from Eircom).

However if you wait, the BT package might drop further.

Also NTL cable BB might be an option for you.

cormie

Thanks for the feedback:)

Are there definitely new packages coming from all companies or is this just rumour? May not be worth my while to wait around if it's just rumour and they may not come byt he end of the month

At the moment BT + Line Rental for €40 is probably the best. You can get unlimited calls by adding an extra €20. (the same BB + line rental + calls costs €80 from Eircom).

Does the BT package include BB though or just phone calls? Eircom rang me just the other day saying they offer Line Rental and local and national calls for €40. What is the extra €20 you mention? Unlimited calls? Does this mean Peak and off peak local and national or peak and off peak, local, national, mobile and international:eek: ? Doubt it:o Do you think the €80 you mention is the €40 in a new deal I was offered by Eircom when they rang?

MisterAnarchy

I just sent off the forms to BT yesterday evening to transfer from Eircom to BT .
Damn it ,these new deals would have to be in the pipeline.
Everytime I change service ,the previous provider improves their service.
BT may remove the 50 Euro connection fee in the future perhaps ?

kaizersoze

Are there definitely new packages coming from all companies or is this just rumour? May not be worth my while to wait around if it's just rumour and they may not come byt he end of the month

There are speed increases on the way at the end of January and that usually brings new packages from all the providers. If your thinking of moving to BT there shouldn't be any need to wait though. In the past existing customers also benefited from new prices/packages.

Does the BT package include BB though or just phone calls? Eircom rang me just the other day saying they offer Line Rental and local and national calls for €40. What is the extra €20 you mention? Unlimited calls? Does this mean Peak and off peak local and national or peak and off peak, local, national, mobile and international ? Doubt it Do you think the €80 you mention is the €40 in a new deal I was offered by Eircom when they rang?

The €40 package that bk mentioned does include BB and line rental. The €20 extra for calls is for unlimited local and national calls only and does not include international or UK (Eircoms €39.99 offer doesn't include them either).
BT's call rates for these destinations are also way cheaper than Eircoms.
The €80 bk quoted is €39.99 for BB plus €39.99 for the call package incl. line rental.
BTW you shouldn't be on the 512k connection cause it doesn't exist anymore. You should be on the 1mb connection (which will be 2mb at the end of January)

Sponge Bob

cormie wrote:

I got a call from Eircom saying they now charge €39 which is inclusive of line rental, answering machine, billing and also gives free local and national calls any time. This seems to be on par with what BT offer.

It would be if it existed, what did they call this package and is it ( I wonder) one of the new packages due later this month ????

As standard eircom BB alone is €39.99 I suspect this will be a 3 months at €39.99 and then €49.99 package thereafter.

BT have BB+ Line rental + Unlimited National calls (either always or off peak) for €50 to €60 , its on their site

cormie

We'd be definitely going for on and off peak. The Eircom lady said it was JUST for phone charges, Line rental and anytime local and national calls, NO BROADBAND, broadband is seperate.

So you reckon it would be worth my while to wait until these new deals are announced? Will they definitely be announced by the end of Jan?

Thanks for the feedback:)

bk

cormie wrote:

Thanks for the feedback:)

Are there definitely new packages coming from all companies or is this just rumour? May not be worth my while to wait around if it's just rumour and they may not come byt he end of the month

Definite, Eircom has published the wholesale prices (which they charge BT, UTV, themselves, etc.) and the new wholesale prices will become active from the 24th of January. New retail products based on these new wholesale prices should then be announced around that date by Eircom Retail, BT, UTV, etc.

cormie wrote:

Does the BT package include BB though or just phone calls? Eircom rang me just the other day saying they offer Line Rental and local and national calls for €40. What is the extra €20 you mention? Unlimited calls? Does this mean Peak and off peak local and national or peak and off peak, local, national, mobile and international:eek: ? Doubt it:o Do you think the €80 you mention is the €40 in a new deal I was offered by Eircom when they rang?

Ok there are a few different packages, the Eircom package for €40 includes line rental (normally €25) plus unlimited local and national calls at anytime (doesn't include mobile or landline). BB is another €40 on top of that.

BT offer almost the exact same package, for €40 you get line rental plus unlimited local and national calls at anytime (doesn't include mobile or landline, but they are cheaper then Eircom rates).

However BT also offer another package, for €40 per month you get line rental plus the BB (but not the free calls).

Now it doesn't say it on the BT site, but you can actually combine the two above BT packges:
BT line rental + BB + free unlimited local and national calls at anytime for a
total of either €60 or €65 (I'm not sure you need to double check with them).

With Eircom a similiar package costs:
Ercom line rental + BB + free unlimited local and national calls at anytime for a total of €80 (this includes the crappy "special offer" that the Eircom person was telling you about).

So with BT, for the exact same product, you save between €15 to €20 per month

cormie

kaizersoze wrote:

There are speed increases on the way at the end of January and that usually brings new packages from all the providers. If your thinking of moving to BT there shouldn't be any need to wait though. In the past existing customers also benefited from new prices/packages.

The €40 package that bk mentioned does include BB and line rental. The €20 extra for calls is for unlimited local and national calls only and does not include international or UK (Eircoms €39.99 offer doesn't include them either).
BT's call rates for these destinations are also way cheaper than Eircoms.
The €80 bk quoted is €39.99 for BB plus €39.99 for the call package incl. line rental.
BTW you shouldn't be on the 512k connection cause it doesn't exist anymore. You should be on the 1mb connection (which will be 2mb at the end of January)

Just saw this post now, thanks for the info. But then again, UTV may come out with a more competitive deal, they were the best deal at the time I got them, and it may be worth my while just to wait until I want to switch back to UTV again? It depends on whether all the companies will introduce new deals with the new speeds I suppose.

So what I want, always on BB, line rental with free off/on peak local and national will cost €60 per month from BT and €40+Broadband costs from eircom. Now is this €60 from BT at 3 month rate or after the 3 month rate? Will I be entitled to the 3 month rate since I already have BB with UTV? Is there installation fees?

cormie

bk wrote:

Definite, Eircom has published the wholesale prices (which they charge BT, UTV, themselves, etc.) and the new wholesale prices will become active from the 24th of January. New retail products based on these new wholesale prices should then be announced around that date by Eircom Retail, BT, UTV, etc.



Ok there are a few different packages, the Eircom package for €40 includes line rental (normally €25) plus unlimited local and national calls at anytime (doesn't include mobile or landline). BB is another €40 on top of that.

BT offer almost the exact same package, for €40 you get line rental plus unlimited local and national calls at anytime (doesn't include mobile or landline, but they are cheaper then Eircom rates).

However BT also offer another package, for €40 per month you get line rental plus the BB (but not the free calls).

Now it doesn't say it on the BT site, but you can actually combine the two above BT packges:
BT line rental + BB + free unlimited local and national calls at anytime for a
total of either €60 or €65 (I'm not sure you need to double check with them).

With Eircom a similiar package costs:
Ercom line rental + BB + free unlimited local and national calls at anytime for a total of €80 (this includes the crappy "special offer" that the Eircom person was telling you about).

So with BT, for the exact same product, you save between €15 to €20 per month

24th of Jan, cool, I think I'll wait and see what UTV can offer as I've had no trouble with them at all really and I've heard bad stories of BT. I also don't fancy any downtime between changing. So I should post the same question back here again on the 25th of Jan?

Sponge Bob

cormie wrote:

We'd be definitely going for on and off peak. The Eircom lady said it was JUST for phone charges, Line rental and anytime local and national calls, NO BROADBAND, broadband is seperate.

ahh . sounded far too good for eircom all right . That package is called talktime and is €29.99 for one bundle of calls up to €39.99 unlimited off peak . See

http://www.eircom.ie/talktime

So you reckon it would be worth my while to wait until these new deals are announced? Will they definitely be announced by the end of Jan?

they should be announced monday when the current incentive deals dry up . They cannot come in before the 24th of January .

If you want continous BB you must transfer your connection from UTV to (another carrier) using Bitstream Port Transfer and must give UTV notice of 28 days - one month of your intent to leave . Be careful with UTV T & C's . The procedure is different and separate for transferring (inter alia)

Calls (CPS)
Line Rental (WLR)

and

BB (Bitstream Port Transfer)

and can be very very very kafkaesque if it goes wrong as it does . This kafkaesque system has been designed by Eircom

nevertheless you must transfer each in a very specific sequence, start with BB

cormie

Sponge Bob wrote:

ahh . sounded far too good for eircom all right . That package is called talktime and is €29.99 for one bundle of calls up to €39.99 unlimited off peak . See

http://www.eircom.ie/talktime



they should be announced monday when the current incentive deals dry up . They cannot come in before the 24th of January .

If you want continous BB you must transfer your connection from UTV to (another carrier) using Bitstream Port Transfer and must give UTV notice of 28 days - one month of your intent to leave . Be careful with UTV T & C's . The procedure is different and separate for transferring (inter alia)

Calls (CPS)
Line Rental (WLR)

and

BB (Bitstream Port Transfer)

and can be very very very kafkaesque if it goes wrong as it does . This kafkaesque system has been designed by Eircom

nevertheless you must transfer each in a very specific sequence, start with BB

Thanks for that, I have no idea what all the CPS WLR etc is though:o So you reckon I should give UTV notice today and if I want to cancel, I can take up the new offer 28 days from now, or if I want to stay with them, I can just say I was only joking? hehe.

Freddie59

bk wrote:

Definite, Eircom has published the wholesale prices (which they charge BT, UTV, themselves, etc.) and the new wholesale prices will become active from the 24th of January. New retail products based on these new wholesale prices should then be announced around that date by Eircom Retail, BT, UTV, etc.



Ok there are a few different packages, the Eircom package for €40 includes line rental (normally €25) plus unlimited local and national calls at anytime (doesn't include mobile or landline). BB is another €40 on top of that.

BT offer almost the exact same package, for €40 you get line rental plus unlimited local and national calls at anytime (doesn't include mobile or landline, but they are cheaper then Eircom rates).

However BT also offer another package, for €40 per month you get line rental plus the BB (but not the free calls).

Now it doesn't say it on the BT site, but you can actually combine the two above BT packges:
BT line rental + BB + free unlimited local and national calls at anytime for a
total of either €60 or €65 (I'm not sure you need to double check with them).

With Eircom a similiar package costs:
Ercom line rental + BB + free unlimited local and national calls at anytime for a total of €80 (this includes the crappy "special offer" that the Eircom person was telling you about).

So with BT, for the exact same product, you save between €15 to €20 per month

I've got NTL and it goes like this (per month):

Basic cable: €20
Digital TV: €10
Broadband: €25
Blueface: €10 (unlimited landline calls 24/7 in Ireland)

Total: €65

Not bad in comparison to figures quoted earlier.:)

kaizersoze

cormie wrote:

24th of Jan, cool, I think I'll wait and see what UTV can offer as I've had no trouble with them at all really and I've heard bad stories of BT. I also don't fancy any downtime between changing. So I should post the same question back here again on the 25th of Jan?

I wouldn't hold my breath for UTV to announce anything new. I was with UTV at the last speed increase (March '05). They didn't even notify customers that the upgrade was happening. I waited 3 months for them to announce new packages, got tired waiting and moved to BT. A week later they announced the new deals and they weren't available to existing customers:rolleyes: . No cap increases and only marginally cheaper for new connections.
You're right they were the best value once upon a time but are getting left behind rapidly by the rest.

cormie

Do you have any idea what my house is currently paying for NTL? We just have all the basic channels, mtv, rte, sky news, sk1, discovery, think we have about 17 channels. Does the call charges include line rental? What extra channels does the €10 give you? Is there an installation fee? If I was to opt for that instead of the current BT offer of €60/65 for what I want, how would it compare?

So basically there is:

Cable TV (17 channels)
Digital (not really interested in more channels if it means more money)
free local/national calls 24/7
always on BB (cheapest option)
line rental


BT offer would be:
line rental, always on bb, free local/national calls 24/7 total €60 or 65 PLUS cost of cable tv and whatever else we already pay NTL. I think were with NTL, not sure.

So how would NTL compare?

I'm in Bray, is NTL BB available to me?

Sponge Bob

In a nutshell, transfer BB first on its own, once thats working smoothly look at line rental and calls option .

Blaster99

NTL is €19.50 for the basic TV, €5 or €10 a month for digital depending on package. You can't get NTL BB in Bray. There are lots of rumours, suggestions, and speculation that Bray will get NTL BB soon, like in the next 6 months.

In Bray, your best bet is BT.

cormie

Ok thanks for all the info:)

You'd think Bray would be on par with wherever NTL is, ah well.

Looks like I'll just wait for the new deal announcements see what the story is. Should I ring up to give 28 days notice now? Can I ring or does it have to be in writing?

I'll probably be back here after the 24th with another thread;)

Sponge Bob

cormie wrote:

Looks like I'll just wait for the new deal announcements see what the story is. Should I ring up to give 28 days notice now? Can I ring or does it have to be in writing?

read their T&Cs ....carefully now !

cormie

I'll get around to reading them at some stage:o Hate reading T+C!!! haha

Freddie59

cormie wrote:

Do you have any idea what my house is currently paying for NTL? We just have all the basic channels, mtv, rte, sky news, sk1, discovery, think we have about 17 channels. Does the call charges include line rental? What extra channels does the €10 give you? Is there an installation fee? If I was to opt for that instead of the current BT offer of €60/65 for what I want, how would it compare?

So basically there is:

Cable TV (17 channels)
Digital (not really interested in more channels if it means more money)
free local/national calls 24/7
always on BB (cheapest option)
line rental


BT offer would be:
line rental, always on bb, free local/national calls 24/7 total €60 or 65 PLUS cost of cable tv and whatever else we already pay NTL. I think were with NTL, not sure.

So how would NTL compare?

I'm in Bray, is NTL BB available to me?

I'm only quoting the setup I have. You don't HAVE to take the digital (will save you €10 on the cost). Yeah the NTL BB is always on (1Meg) and Blueface is €10 p/m for unlimitd calls to landlines in Ireland (for another fiver you can do UK as well). No idea about BB - why don't you ring NTL?:)