High speed internet / cable

Hello all,

I'm wondering if anyone could give me a sense of what I may expect to pay for a high speed internet connection per month and also cable television. I'm not sure how the cable is set up in england compared to the states but is it as expensive? I am aware that there is a yearly television license but am unsure as to how much cable might be. Thanks.

Speck

I've found internet/digital TV packages to be cheaper in the UK than the US.

In the US in 2008, I was paying $66 a month for broadband and digital TV, but no phone line, with Comcast (going up to $99 per month after a certain length of time).

In the UK last year, we got a phone line, broadband internet and basic digital TV package with Virgin Media for £26 ($43) per month.

My parents pay more than this for their phone line, TV and broadband, but they have the XL TV package instead of the basic one and are also paying for 3 separate digital boxes in different rooms of the house (each box is an extra £10 or so per month).

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/bundles/triple-builder.html  (cable)
http://www.sky.com/shop/bundles-offers/ (dish and DSL)
http://www.bt.com/ (dsl and a sort of super freeview box)

We have Virgin for phone, cable (V+ XL which includes everything but premium film channels), and broadband and we pay under £50 a month, not including TV licence.

ETA: I agree with ksand24.  I paid about $120 for my cable and broadband when I left the States in 2007.  I bet it would be at least $10-20 more now.  Granted, this included premium channels (HBO, Showtime), but no phone service.  Plus, it had comparable on demand and a DVR box.  So, yeah, it's cheaper here.

Once you know where you'll be living you may want to check http://www.broadbandchecker.co.uk/ to see what broadband / phone / TV packages are available in your area.  Then you can start looking at prices, as it's pointless believing that you will be able to get a complete Virgin or Sky package when in reality it may not be available where you settle.   

Virgin Media is the only cable provider in the UK, however they are not available in all areas (this can be an especially tricky thing if you move into an apartment building as you'll be stuck with whatever the majority have). 
Sky is a satellite provider and is more widely available, but not always for the home phone & internet package aspect.

You can get freeview boxes pretty much everywhere in the UK if you don't have or buy a TV with integrated digital receiver.  Check out http://www.freeview.co.uk/ to see what channels are offered for free.  Alternatively if you buy a special Freeview box with top up card slot you can subscribe to http://www.topuptv.com/ (they include ESPN), so this may work as a cheaper alternative.  The UK is in the process of switching off analogue signal for standard TV (5 channels) at the moment.  http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch

For some areas it may work out cheaper to get a home phone / internet package with a separate TV package.  You may want to also look at http://broadband.talktalk.co.uk/products/broadband for their home phone & internet packages, but again once you know where you'll be living the best thing to check is Broadband checker.

Good luck!

Good luck!