Is there a comparible alternative to NTL for BB & TV, or am i stuck?

Zascar

Between my broadband and TV I've had quite a lot of problems with NTL over the past few months. That coupled with the massive price increase I've seen since the 6 month honeymoon period, myseff and my flatmates are not hugely happy with them.

The lads I live with are determined to leave and go to an alternative provider. I reckon that what we have now, (6mb BB line, Digital TV package in 4 rooms) is cheaper than going to e.g. sky, and having to get a phone line back in for Eircom/UTV etc.

Is there a comparable alternative that anyone can suggest, or are we better off just sticking with what we have?

Can you ever get a better deal of NTL as an existing customer? Their website says "We don’t believe in having deals just for new customers, we like to reward our loyal customers with deals too. That’s why we’ve divided this section into two – one area for new customers and another for existing customers" but nothing there seems to suit...

Any suggestions appreciated.

seamus

Depends on your location. www.magnet.ie do a triple-play as well, but are generally only available in new estates as the sole provider.

Your only real problem is broadband - Sky's packages fare very well against NTL's. Using a phone line for broadband rapes you for money. Have a look at clearwire's offerings (the site is too slow for me at the mo). You probably won't get the same speed as NTL, but you probably don't need 6Mb all too often anyway.

paulm17781

No, if there was a comparable operator, UPC would have no business.

I live in an apartment so can't get a dish. In an ideal world I'd have Sky (or FTA) and Smart. Unless they learn how to treat their customers with respect, as soon as I get a house, UPC are gone!

bk

Any alternative is likely to be much more expensive.

Sky = €30 per month (no sports or movies)
+ 3 Multiroom = €45 (€15 per room)
Total for sky = €75

Then maybe you could get Smart* for phone + BB, 6mb is €55.36

* Note Smart mighn't be available in your area, so you would then need to go with Eircom, max 3mb.

So total would be €130.36

As a comparison, I estimate that including phone line, you should be paying €87.50 per month for the same from UPC:

BB 6m €30
Digital TV Max €32
+ 3 Multi Room €25.5 (€8.50 each)

UPC are actually one of the cheapest around for everything.

BTW you could save a few bob by cancelling the multiroom, you can still use the TV points for watching plain 17 channel analogue service.

Zascar

Thanks. I just called NTL and they broke it down for me:

6mb line: €40 (may get 12mb upgrade when available)
Cable Digital Max (invluding first NTL Box) €32
3x Additional Box's: €8.50 x3 = €25.50
= €97.50 per month.

So I think you're right that getting this many channels plus 6mb broadband, this is by far the cheapest option...

The lady did tell me that all customers will get upgraded to 12mb in June - and you can;t argue that 12mb for €40 is fantastic value...

watty

Or just get Broadband from NTL/UPC or Digiweb Metro (phone with no line) and only watch free satellite channels. About 45 decent channels.
Sport is the expensive bit of Pay TV.