NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Not sure if this has been addressed as a specific blunder and its own thread but here we go
NTL Phone - sky - CM ( I believe you can have a phone without tv but not tv without phone).
BT - adsl - sky is an option
BT - sky - CM is another
NTL phone - NTL TV - CM is the only other valid option you have.

BT and adsl has no choice but to go together so is the NTL choice to force their phone on their dearest service a wise move or blunder.

1. anyone thinking of Digital tv but want to keep their BT phone is NTL an option? not really
2. vice versa people wanting to try adsl is obviously going to cancell the ntl phone and as thats bundled in the TV it too has to go.
if it was seperated you would have a wider choice of service provider mixes.


BT - NTL TV - CM
BT - NTL TV - adsl

Here out of 6 total services in 2 other mixes they figure for 50% of and its obvious to me they could attract other customers on some services or not lose all services to the alternatives. Id say they made the move was an idea to discourage people from jumping on any service but imo it has the opposite effect. Especially with the impending price hike.

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Especially if their BT line is ISDN, like mine is.

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

It might prevent some sign ups to ntl, but by bundling the phone existing subscribers are "trapped" into staying with ntl for everything, instead of seeing if the grass might be greener.It's a bit tit for tat really, and since it's easier to keep customers than win new ones, trapping them into staying is probably a wise move. However, should a company need to trap it's customers ?

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

In my opinion, yes it is a blunder. Back in 1999 I took NTL on, because I thought I was unable to get Sky, living in a flat as I do. I already had a BT phoneline. In 2000 I got ADSL, because they offered it to me before NTL offered me cable broadband. Once cable broadband was available I decided to leave BT and ADSL, due to the fact I was effectively paying for 2 phonelines, which I didn't need. Now I find myself in the position that I am leaving NTL altogether, mainly due to the price/quality of their broadband service. If they didn't bundle the phone with the TV, I might have actually kept the tv, despite the lack of interactive etc. but I will not pay a company for something I do not use. Moving back to BT to get ADSL, forces me to go the other way due to having 2 phonelines again, but this time I know I am allowed to have a dish on my flat, so I am taking Sky as well. So NTL effectively lose out on about £40 a month due to them not packaging TV on it's own.

I have no idea why they have stuck to this plan. Their basic phone package is no longer competitive especially when compared with BT's basic package. Why should I pay 1 or 2p per minute with NTL when I can speak for up to an hour for 6p (5.5p next month) with BT? If they want to survive and attract/keep customers they have to be more flexible about this sort of thing and more price competitive. At the moment their broadband and telephone services are no longer as attractive as they were. Their TV service is the only thing still remotely competitive (will be whenever they finally get interactive/new epg going), as movies are cheaper to order and the premiership plus is much cheaper, but this is only one aspect of the whole package and I'd rather have Sky/BT/ADSL than them now, because the combined benfits of the three companies outweighs NTLs.

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Not a wise move ! I used to have all three services broadband TV and phone line. I had my bt line put back on as I could get cheap calls Via Talk Talk and as my friends and family are also Talk Talk customers that means free calls 24/7 to them. I believe these alternative telcos are not availble via a NTL line.
I then phoned NTL to cancel my telephone line as I did not require two lines. I did say I would like to keep my TV services at a reduced rate as (less £9.50) line rental. "No Can Do" So I then cancelled the TV and bought a free view box and now subsribe to top up tv for £7.99 a month. I would prefer ntl family pack but not prepared to pay for a phone line I do not require. That leaves the broadband at £24.99. I am not a heavy user and have found I can get a pay and go deal from metronet form as little as £10 a month with unlimted useage capped at £23.99. This means I would be saving mega bucks on light months and when on holidays. Plus I get a static IP address. I am not worried about not having a email address as my yahoo free one suits me fine and availble via outlook express. So its buy buy ntl for good. All NTL packages are more expensive and inflexible.

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

For me it has worked out brilliantly that tv and telephone are together.
I have a Tivo that needs to dial out every night and the free line i get from ntl with my television service comes in handy since the phone call is free.
If there was no telephone line i would have needed to pay line rental to BT for nothing as it were.
So in my situation this has worked out well.

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Free line? It's not free. The price is included in the tv package!

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Thats what i'm on about. The telephone being bundled with the television is a great idea for me, since i take most channels anyway i don't noticed the payment for the telephone as it were.

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Yes, but you only take 2 of the services that are being talked about in this thread. This thread is about how someone who takes ALL 3 services, broadband, phone and TV, may be put off taking anything with NTL, because to take the TV they HAVE to take the phone. They may want to have ADSL instead of cable modem, but due to NTL insisting on packaging the phone with the TV, they have a choice of either 2 lines or not have any NTL. You are in a group that doesn't really care, because if you get Sky and BT or NTL TV + phone, it's going to be pretty much the same price, give or take a £1.

BTW, this isn't meant to sound as if your post/opinion doesn't count. It's just that the thread is about NTL losing customers due to their inflexibility about bundling TV and phone! :)

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

I'm an NTL digital customer - Sport, Movies, Broadband, etc - and I've still got my BT line with the NTL phone line never used.

I've often wondered whether it would make more sense to dump BT and use the NTL service.

I would prefer to have the NTL services without the phone and, hopefully, a better price. But, I wonder how much cheaper it would actually be...

Roger...

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Well, my current package is:

Base + phone £18
Movies & sport £29.50
Family pack £10
Prem plus £1
Total = £48.50

This is increasing by £2 as of June 1st so will be £50.50. I am moving to Sky + BT + ADSL. Sky = £40 a month. BT is £11.50, moving down to £10.50 from July 1st. So it will be £50.50, although I won't have Premiere plus, but that's no losss as I only watch a match every now and then.

My real saving will be on the fact I will get an ADSL isp that has working binary newsgroups, so I won't have to spend £20 a month for seperate news servers.

Re: NTL tv and phone bundle a blunder?
 

Of course if you have Prem Plus on Sky its £6 a game and £40 per season or summit ridiculous like that.

Also BTs move to £10.50 is yet to be approved by OFCOM, or certainally the movingthe 9 million £9.50 customers up to £10.50 anyway.

NTL are making a big mistake by bundelling their TV Service, many people dont want to, cant be arsed to change their telephone provider.

There are many people who want digital TV that dont want a NTL Phone
There are thousands of unhappy Sky customers who are happy with BT and would love the opportunity to switch providers if it didnt cost more.