Broadband Bundles

The concept of bundling in the communications market has been around for over a decade. Originally cable providers like ntl and Telewest bundled cable TV, phone and dial-up internet services using the same fibre optic cable. In 2000 BT was made to open up its telephone exchanges to competitors, giving them direct access to the final “loop” to customers’ houses. This enabled alternative providers to offer more direct competition to BT’s own broadband offering rather then 'selling on' products supplied by BT's wholesale division.

In 2004 broadband started to become readily available to consumers and this was when IT and Telecoms firms realised the potential. The infrastructure and technology was available to offer consumers bundled products more easily than before. Home phone calls and broadband services were the first products to be bundled, and, with the advance of digital TV, it became possible to offer all three over a single broadband connection. When this was combined with Mobile as well it became possible for some companies, such as Orange and Virgin Media to be able to offer all four products on a single monthly bill.

Today the most widely available bundle is the combination of broadband (ADSL) and phone calls. Competition in this sector is still increasing rapidly and all to further benefit the customer, prices are getting lower. A few providers that offer this bundle are AOL, BT, Eclipse, Madasafish, Orange , Pipex, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Tiscali, Toucan and Virgin Media. The ability to 'mix and match' different connection speeds (2Mb, 8Mb and 24 Mb) and calling plans (Evening and Weekends, Anytime packages) mean that the customer is able to customise the package to suit their usage requirements. In some cases the providers will be able to offer you the line rental, home phone and broadband on a single monthly bill. Other providers may require you to still take your line rental through BT whilst making use of CPS (Carrier Pre Selection) to route the calls via their network.

Another common bundle is broadband, home phone and digital TV. There are only a handful of providers offering this combination, such as Sky, Virgin Media, Tiscali TV and BT Vision, but the options available are dependent on the broadband speed that you want and the calls package that suits your typical home phone usage. You can even extend this bundle to include mobiles in the package if you choose to go with Virgin Media, who also provide bundles for digital TV and home phone; home phone and broadband; digital TV and broadband; broadband, digital TV and mobiles; home phone, mobiles and digital TV.

If you aren't fussed about digital TV then you can get a bundle through Orange who will offer free broadband and home phone if you take an Orange mobiles contract (minimum £30 per month).

Finally, there are ISP that offer "free" broadband but many people argue that this is an example of good product bundling and marketing. This is possibly because the broadband is not available as a stand alone product, so you must buy another product from that provider. Examples of broadband packages like this are Talk Talk's Talk 3 package, Orange's "free broadband" offer when customers take a mobile package costing £30 or more each month, and Sky's "free broadband" when you sign up to a Sky digital TV package.

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