Broadband & TV

sooty&sweep

Hi

We currently have a basic sky TV package with a sky + box and our broadband is with talk talk & we have the talk talk TV package. We pay approx £60 per month for both. We're not tied in to either sky or talktalk.
I'm currently at risk from redundancy so we need to reduce costs.
We're not happy with our broadband speed so we're considering upgrading to fibre. We do use the sky+ box but we're not big tv watchers.
We've rung sky & talk talk and we've not been offered any great deals.
I'm considering shifting our broadband to sky & upgrading to fibre.
I'd like to keep sky TV but I do need to bring down overheads. So I'm considering cancelling the tv element (unless they offer a good deal) and use something like Netflix or now tv.
If I go this route I'm considering upgrading via topcash back as they offer a cashbook of approx £55 however if I do this I've no opportunity of negotiating a deal.
I'm hoping to pick a few brains to find out what others have done in a similar position.
I keep reading the different websites & I'm so confused !
Any advice greatly received !
Jen

VisionMan

sooty&sweep wrote: »

Hi. We currently have a basic sky TV package with a sky + box and our broadband is with talk talk & we have the talk talk TV package. We pay approx £60 per month for both. We're not tied in to either sky or talktalk.Jen

Redundancy? For starters - You need to ditch one of the two above. No one needs 2 TV packages from 2 different providers.

mije1983

Any deal you make will probably tie you into another minimum term. Maybe it might be best to hold off until you know what's going on with your job?

You say you're not a big TV watcher. Which channels do you watch? Are they available on Freeview/Freesat etc?

sooty&sweep

Agreed Vision man that is what we're planning to do.
We were offered a very cheap deal by talktalk & we used it on the tv in our bedroom
Jen

bsod

depends what your priorities are

if it's cutting costs, bt unlimited broadband with free weekend calls to 01/02/03/0845 is currently £5/month plus line rental (17.99/month or 10% cheaper if you pay a year upfront). with a £50 prepaid mastercard as a bonus. that particular deal ends at midnight.

so that would save you about £43/month (from £60 to £17.02) or £516pa

for tv you can use freesat, freeview, sky free to air

or sky broadband is free currently, just pay line rental 17.40

upgrading to fibre isn't cost cutting, and will tie you into a contract

VisionMan

bsod wrote: »

depends what your priorities are

if it's cutting costs bt unlimited broadband is currently £5/month plus line rental (17.99/month or a little cheaper if you pay a year upfront). with a £50 prepaid card as a bonus. that particular deal ends at midnight.

for tv you can use freesat, freeview, sky free to air

Or YouView, as the OP is already in possession of a box. As even after cancellation it will still function as a Freeview PVR and on demand player. Unlike a Sky box which is PVR disabled after cancellation.

See what TT will offer you for upgrading to fibre. As noted above, all the providers are offering mega deals at the moment.

Ian011

bsod wrote: »

... cutting costs ... free weekend calls to 01/02/03/0845/0870...

Taking a 'weekend' call plan exposes you to call costs around 18p per call plus 10p per minute for weekday calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers. A small number of these calls soon exceeds the cost of the 'anytime' call plan which gives an unlimited number of calls of up to 60 minutes per call at any time of the day or night, seven days a week. Taking a 'weekend' call plan to 'save money' is often a false economy.

Some landline providers also include calls to mobile numbers starting 071-075 and 077-079 or offer an add-on for a couple of pounds per month. This in place of paying about 18p per call plus 12p per minute from a landline or having a much larger call plan on your mobile than is strictly necessary for what you use when away from home.

As customer service lines are no longer allowed to use 084 or 087 numbers, it is largely irrelevant whether a deal includes calls to 0845 or 0870 numbers or not. Most customer service lines use 03 numbers. Likewise, public services almost always use cheaper 03 numbers. Calls to 03 numbers are inclusive wherever 01 and 02 numbers are.

If the deal does include 0870 or 0845 numbers, there are dial-through providers that route calls to landline and mobile numbers in Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man, mobile numbers in the UK, other 084 and 087 numbers and various international destinations. An inclusive deal means these calls can be made at no additional charge.

bsod

Ian011 wrote: »

Taking a 'weekend' call plan to 'save money' is often a false economy.

your very selective quote a post function seems to be adding extra numbers for effect. Perhaps your 087 keys are sticky.

The weekend call plan is the baseline call package with BT, it was mentioned as part of an example on how they could save money overall.

Most adults capable of taking out a phone contract understand the concept of call packages and the need to pay for non-inclusive calls

A significant proportion of the public never or rarely use the landline for outgoing calls, or can let them wait until the weekend, so they don't need to pay an extra 7.95/month for anytime call packages.

sooty&sweep

Hi
Thank you all
We are traditionalists and still use a landline so we wouldn't want a weekend telephone package.
My priority is to save money but also to improve our Internet speed. We do watch channels that aren't available through free view which is why I'd consider a tv package if it's a good deal.
However thats why I'm considering Now TV or Netflix or equivalent. Any recommendations ?
If you've moved to sky for broadband have you been able to negotiate a better deal over the phone rather than cashback via topcashback?
Thanks
Jen