need an advice on what provider to install in my house

[nfr]

Hi,
as the subject says, I need an advice. Last august I moved to UK (so am quite new to this country) and rented a house. Then I bought a TV and discovered that the landlord didn't install any aerial. I also don't have any telephone line, since the house is refurbished and obtained from an older house.
So I started to think about what to install.
Firstly I tried with an indoor aerial and found that my area's got really poor signal (in front I have a hill and after the hill there's the transmitter). What would you suggest, considering the weak signal area and the fact the I'am renting so it's not my own house?
Many thanks

[Paul K]

You may need to look at your agreement with the landlord to see if there are any restrictions on what you can install before paying for something that he may ask you to take down.
Other than that what services are you looking at? How much TV do you watch, what type of programming, how much would you use the telephone and would it be local or international calls?

[nfr]

I've already spoken to the landlord and, since he installed nothing just to let me decide, he agrees with everything, so ntl would be ok as much as sky or a normal analogue+digital aerial.

I'd like to have the analogue signal, with some more channels than the normal one, so freeview would be ok, but I suspect that the installation of the aerial will cost a lot. No broadband.
I'd use the telephone mostly for international calls, but I can also live without it. TV is what I'm interested in at the moment, since I have the telly there, already bought and being watching me without being used
I also thought about ntl, since as far as I know if you ask for the TV to be installed, you'll pay also the telephone line rental, so it's better to ask them to install the telephone as well with the same price (£30 per month).
What do you suggest?

[Derek]

Getting Ntl installed will probably be the easier option than BT + Sky or getting a decent aerial popped onto your roof.

[Angua]

I presume you already know Ntl is available in your area? As for freeview you would need a much better aerial by the sound of it.

You mentioned the house has been refurbished, does this mean it could be a much older property and therefore "listed" (this limits what you can to to the outside of the house)? If so it would be best to have Ntl (no aerials or dishes). Worth having a look round to see if there are dishes on houses nearby? Also is there an overhead cable from the house to a telegraph pole? If not there may be an extra charge to get a BT line!

[nfr]

I already asked for ntl but they told me they need to make a construction in front of my house and then the installation, so the work could be invasive. Furthermore, I have to wait almost 1 month and a half for it to be done. So am thinking whether to do it or not.
How much would a decent aerial cost from a local aerial installer, as an average?

[Angua]

A decent digital aerial seems to be about £40 but you would need to ask locally to find a fitter and what they charge. I have heard it is about £60, but at least with freeview there are no further charges once you have bought the box (unless you want extra channels). So although it seems a lot up front once it is done thats the end of any charges.

Yep, Freeview has higher upfront costs if you have to have an aerial installed ... £40 the aerial, £60 the fitting and about £50 the box ... £150 all in.

BT may charge you for installation, and Sky will charge you unless you sign up with one of their premium packages for at least a month (depending on what offer is on at the moment), so I suspect the BT/Sky combo could cost you at least £50 in the first month, plus a minimum of £15/month for the next 12 months for Sky's basic TV pack (total cost you paid for Sky after a year is £210 (11 months @ £15 plus one month at approx £45)) and for BT approx. £11/month line rental, £132 for the year. Something like £342 all together.

As for NTL - assuming they can service your flat, I've just been through their online ordering and the bare minimum you can spend at the moment appears to be £21.50 a month, with free installation, so that's £258 after 12 months, which includes your phone so is rather cheaper than BT/Sky and comparable with Freeview when you add the likely £150 set-up cost of Freeview to the 12 months line rental from BT.

So, very very roughly, the total costs after 12 months are, I think, something like this:

BT/Freeveiw: £280

BT/Sky: £342

NTL: £258

Of course, after 12 months you continue to pay a minimum of £21.50 for NTL, £26 for BT/Sky or £11 for BT/Freeview (cos the Freeview bit is free!) So all together, if you are sure you don't want any of the premium channels, Freeview is cheaper in the long run.

That was a rather messy post, sorry ... but I hope it's useful.

[altis]

nfr, are you interested in any foreign language programmes? If so then you may want to look into getting a motorised free-to-air satellite system. Initial costs will be higher but there'll be no monthly charges and you'll be able to get literally thousands of channels from around the world.

[nfr]

Originally Posted by Chris T

Yep, Freeview has higher upfront costs if you have to have an aerial installed ... £40 the aerial, £60 the fitting and about £50 the box ... £150 all in.

BT may charge you for installation, and Sky will charge you unless you sign up with one of their premium packages for at least a month (depending on what offer is on at the moment), so I suspect the BT/Sky combo could cost you at least £50 in the first month, plus a minimum of £15/month for the next 12 months for Sky's basic TV pack (total cost you paid for Sky after a year is £210 (11 months @ £15 plus one month at approx £45)) and for BT approx. £11/month line rental, £132 for the year. Something like £342 all together.

As for NTL - assuming they can service your flat, I've just been through their online ordering and the bare minimum you can spend at the moment appears to be £21.50 a month, with free installation, so that's £258 after 12 months, which includes your phone so is rather cheaper than BT/Sky and comparable with Freeview when you add the likely £150 set-up cost of Freeview to the 12 months line rental from BT.

So, very very roughly, the total costs after 12 months are, I think, something like this:

BT/Freeveiw: £280

BT/Sky: £342

NTL: £258

Of course, after 12 months you continue to pay a minimum of £21.50 for NTL, £26 for BT/Sky or £11 for BT/Freeview (cos the Freeview bit is free!) So all together, if you are sure you don't want any of the premium channels, Freeview is cheaper in the long run.

That was a rather messy post, sorry ... but I hope it's useful.

Messy, but was a very good analysis and really what I needed. As you said, freeview is cheaper in a long term. I have to make sure of teh cost for the aerial installation, since, being in a weak signal aerial, it's likely to pay more than £100 (maybe I will need some strange pipes as my neighbours have).