is there a broadband/phone package or broadband cost alone for me- not with BT line?

girish_2

I'd be grateful for any help. I've been in the process of finding out the most cost-effective way possible to move from NTL to Sky HD. We have been with ntl for at least 5 years, can't remember exactly.

I looked at the BT/TalkTalk option but people said it was very unreliable. I have just viewed toucantele from http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/calculator.asp but again the problem is other companies offer things cheaper, yet I don't know what their service is like.

This is the situation for me at the moment:

We are with NTL paying £17.99 a month for 1MB broadband (anytime use- the one-off flat rate fee) (512 speed)

We are paying NTL £10.50 per month line rental for calls

Our average phone bill is £7 per month

We pay NTL £1 per month for itemised billing

So at the moment our monthly total of broadband and phone calls = £36.49 (call it £35 to make it easier.)

The only way to save more money when we switch to Sky HD will be from either the calling plan, broadband or a combination of the two (the only reason Sky HD is costing more is because of the £10 per month HD subscription and we are paying £6 per month on ntl for Zee tv, whereas it's around £12 per month on Sky.)

I have looked at cheaper broadband options but many require you to have a BT line, which we have, but it's in-active at the moment as being with ntl, we don't require it. The only reason we would re-connect it, would be if we could keep our existing number and if the total costs were cheaper than we are currently paying with ntl, explained below.

I have the following questions:

1) I cite an example posted in another topic on this forum.

"Hi,

From experience, call NTL first and tell them you have found a better deal with madasafish and are signing up with them, (Their offer is 8MB broadband @10.99 for the first six month and £13.99 thereafter, only mention that it is £10.99 a month though!). I called NTL saying I wanted to cancel my broadband from the end of the month and they offered me 10MB broadband @9.99 a month for as long as I was with them!!!"

...Firstly won't ntl 'check' that the cost you quote them as an offer from another broadband supplier, on the phone, is correct? In the example above the user lied, but got the deal. Does anyone know the best way to do this discussion, what do you say if they ask who told you about the deal, did you speak to anyone at the supplier about the deal, how long is the deal for (as the offer quoted to ntl in the example was an introductory offer and not a lifetime one, yet ntl still done the deal!)

2) If most of the other cheaper broadbands around require you to have a BT line, will ntl know if I have one or not, if for example I were to quote them a cheaper broadband price from a supplier that requires you to have a BT line. E.g. could I tell ntl I do have a BT line, as a second phone line so therefore I meet the conditions for the cheaper broadband supplier's offer (even though I would be lying, could ntl find out if I have a BT line?) If they don't then I have more 'offers' I could allude them to.

3)Most of our calls are made locally. We don't call internationally and don't call mobiles either (from out landline.) Most calls are made during the evening and weekend. However rarely, but sometimes we call duing the daytime.

You can see the low cost of our phone bill per month. Therefore does anyone know of any deal which would be cheaper than the one we currently have, broken down above? It would have to be either:

a) broadband at less than £17.99 per month for at least 1MB and at least 512 speed (a reliable one)

b) Phone package (line rental, itemised billing, call plan and outgoing call charges at less than £18.50 per month

c) A combination of the above two, at less than £36.49 per month

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, particulaly as there are so many options and even if I do find a better deal, if it's another company and is cheaper than what I am currently with on ntl, then I'd be dubious as to how 'good' the service is.

Skint1

Hi I'm with NTL and my total bill should be roughly £70 a month. But I phoned them up and told them I was leaving canceling the lot. They asked why I told them I couldn't afford to pay that amount. They asked if that was the only reason I said yes I never had any problems with NTL. After a bit of negotiating they let me keep my package for £50 a month. I would wait a bit I have heard NTL will be offering free HD. But if you want to reduce what you are paying them have a rough idea of what you want to pay and stick to it. Would I have left? Yes I would. I pay NTL £600 a year it's that or nothing

mrJ_5

i would have thought that you would be able to move your ntl number to BT somehow - but if not . . .


anyhow - no other broadband service will work on an ntl line, other than aol (for some reason - only aol seem to be able to do this)..... butif you were to get a phone line with anyone else.... ie. not kingston communications or a cable company... then you can have broadband from anyone....

... i myself use zazizam for unlimited 512k and the service has been great.... they offer an upto 8mb service from £11.99 a month, which you can use with their phone option - the call charges are lower than BT's which is good to know... i have used zazizam for a really long time, and the service has just been what i would expect, if i could pick a word - perfect springs to mind

anyhow - to answer your other points... the thing is with ntl, they would know that no other provider can use their line for broadband pretty much - so you would be lieing to them anyway... but whether they check or not - i wouldn't know, but it is probably their intention to keep you as a customer...... but i doubt they could see that you have a BT line already

girish_2

i know we could keep the same number if we move to BT.

My first issue was what the process is for ntl offering me a better deal. for example i could say to them madafish are offering me £11.99 a month for broadband 1MB (it says upto 8MB but 1MB is all i need.) in reality this is just for the first 6 months though and goes upto £17.99 a month thereafter. what's the process? can ntl check out that offer whilst i'm on the phone to them i.e. if i tell them they offered me £11.99 p/month, would ntl be able to check whilst talking to me if that was introductory or a consistent monthly fee of £11.99. Do they offer you a deal on the phone whilst talking to you or do they get back to you? I am messaging the person who i cited that example from as i have no problems ntl broadband and cost is the only issue. i'll se what they say.

so my second issue there was, if the x company required me to have a BT line in order to install their broadband (and my BT line is currently in-active,) would ntl be able to tell if I had an active BT line i.e. I would be lying if i said to ntl that we would be able to take the cheaper broadband with company x as we have two phone lines, one with ntl and one with BT, so it wouldn't matter if ntl's calling plan didn't 'match' with the option.

Therefore "anyhow - no other broadband service will work on an ntl line, other than aol (for some reason - only aol seem to be able to do this)..... butif you were to get a phone line with anyone else.... ie. not kingston communications or a cable company... then you can have broadband from anyone...."

...I could tell ntl that i was considering ditching their broadband because company x is giving me a cheaper offer and that becaus we have a BT line too, we could use the broadband on that line- thus leaving us just with NTL's calling plan. i could say we ditched our ntl digital channels simply because of sky hd if they enquire and that that decision was seperate from this one etc.

btw the decision has been pretty much made. i have heard ntl are offering some form of hd service but our main reason of wanting to move is their unreliability.

in all honesty we are happy with our calling plan. £10.50 a month for line rental and a low usage, i think that's a good deal. but it's the broadband that is too expensive. if i can get ntl to cut it down to around £10 a month for the same usage i would be happy as larry. the only problem is that £10 a month broadband offers for the connection i have are introductory ones. so i'd get away with it if ntl don't bother to check.

mrJ_5

girish wrote:

the only problem is that £10 a month broadband offers for the connection i have are introductory ones

zazizam's 11.99 package isn't introductory

girish_2

No Worries 1mb, Unlimited Usage
Up to 20x faster than dialup
Download 5mb in less than 1 minute
10Mb fast web space
5 POP and web based email addresses
Unlimited monthly usage
Go to Signup Area>
Broadband connection Only £21.99
Combined with freetalk £19.99


i'm currently on 1mb unlimited at £17.99. would i be right in saying that free talk (above) is their calling package? I can't find any info about it on their site.

actually i've just nocied they are offeing 8mb at 2gb usage for £13.99 broadband only and £11.99 with freetalk

ntl have offered me 10mb broadband so im going to assume i can get upto 8mb in my area. i guess i could tell nel they are offering me 8mb at £13.99, but ntl will suss if i say they're also offering b/band and telephone at £11.99

im not going to talktalk, but their package is £9.99 calling plan, £11 line rental and 8mb broadband free- saving me £10 a month or m/fish broadband 8mb at £11.99 BUT then it goes upto £17.99 (what im currently with ntl on)

what do you reckon? will ntl know if an offer is introductory or not when i tell them this company if offering me £x

steviet78

NTL will not know if you have a BT line or not, As for reconnection to BT you can probably get this for free (providing no engineering work needs doing, i.e. master socket still in tact and line from your house to the telegraph pole).

One word of warning though, if you port your cable number to BT and then you may have a problem getting certain LLU services, I know TalkTalk have this problem.

If I was you, I would call up retentions at NTL and tell them you are going to leave. Do some research first on who is offering good bb & call deals (why not quote TT) and they will probably match it.

I work in the telecoms industry and these days it is all about customer retention. If you want a reasonable deal you will get it.