TV/internet/phone fog
May 21st 2015, 2:33 pm
#31
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Location: Western Australia
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
We use BT for everything, unlimited fibre broadband, land line etc, deals are always changing but usually BT will give you a good deal if you take a 12 month contract. With the BT unlimited you also get, free, BT sports if you want, has as many Prem League as SKY.
We have a smart TV, which gives us access to all iplayer, ITV player etc for catch up. and ours also has 2 USB and HDMI slots so you can plug a flash driver in or a SKY NOW TV box or ROKU or AMAZON Prime stick. Almost all TVs are Freeview enabled which gives you some 70 TV channels, all the main ones, BBC, ITV, Chan 4, Chan 5 and their + channels that show you what was on the main channel but one hour later. BBC does not have those.
We pay for our license monthly, but you can also do it weekly, by DD. SKY NOW TV box gives you packages for movies, entertainment, Sport that are paid for in monthly, or, in the case of the Sports, daily packages.
Moving back to the UK you may have some difficulties with some of the providers as you are not on the electoral roll, and do not have utility bills, we were told theat it would be a number of months to get Talk Talk etc, so went with BT who didn't have the restrictions.
We have a smart TV, which gives us access to all iplayer, ITV player etc for catch up. and ours also has 2 USB and HDMI slots so you can plug a flash driver in or a SKY NOW TV box or ROKU or AMAZON Prime stick. Almost all TVs are Freeview enabled which gives you some 70 TV channels, all the main ones, BBC, ITV, Chan 4, Chan 5 and their + channels that show you what was on the main channel but one hour later. BBC does not have those.
We pay for our license monthly, but you can also do it weekly, by DD. SKY NOW TV box gives you packages for movies, entertainment, Sport that are paid for in monthly, or, in the case of the Sports, daily packages.
Moving back to the UK you may have some difficulties with some of the providers as you are not on the electoral roll, and do not have utility bills, we were told theat it would be a number of months to get Talk Talk etc, so went with BT who didn't have the restrictions.
May 21st 2015, 2:36 pm
#32
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
This may well be true. BT were a pain, with having to wait for three weeks for the engineer to come around, but no problems with account setup and arranging for direct debits etc. Same for water bill, electricity, council tax, and other regular bills. At no point did anyone balk at my lack of credit or past history. All seemed very willing to set up accounts, I assume they feel they are not risking much loss and can always cut you off if you fail to pay.
Scouse already has a UK bank account, so that might help a bit with direct debits.
May 21st 2015, 2:39 pm
#33
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
[QUOTE=the1mag;11649866]I've been back in the UK for about seven months now and it's like the wild west for TV, internet etc., but I've looked into all the mobile/cell phone contract and PAYG packages from all the providers and for me the best deal for mobile service is with giffgaff https://giffgaff.com/
I had my phone unlocked before I left Canada and got a free SIM card from giffgaff sent to where I was going to be staying when I first arrived. Since being here I've been buying their £10 a month package which gives me 500 minutes, 1GB data and unlimited texts.
You don't have to pay for incoming calls here, and there's no extra cost to call anywhere in the UK.
You might want to look at the Money Saving Expert website [url=http://www.moneysavingexpert.com and sign up for his newsletter. All kinds of information about everything you can think of including this stuff. I ended up with EE for internet after seeing in the newsletter that after three months they gave new customers a £120 Amazon voucher which is not unusual, happens fairly often with the various providers.
Maggie[/QUOTE]
Thanks heaps for that very useful information, Maggie. I'm amazed (and delighted) that you can get a mobile phone provider that lets you make calls for the same price right across the UK. I'm liking the sound of the Amazon vouchers as well! I hope you've settled in well in the 7 months since you've arrived.
I had my phone unlocked before I left Canada and got a free SIM card from giffgaff sent to where I was going to be staying when I first arrived. Since being here I've been buying their £10 a month package which gives me 500 minutes, 1GB data and unlimited texts.
You don't have to pay for incoming calls here, and there's no extra cost to call anywhere in the UK.
You might want to look at the Money Saving Expert website [url=http://www.moneysavingexpert.com and sign up for his newsletter. All kinds of information about everything you can think of including this stuff. I ended up with EE for internet after seeing in the newsletter that after three months they gave new customers a £120 Amazon voucher which is not unusual, happens fairly often with the various providers.
Maggie[/QUOTE]
Thanks heaps for that very useful information, Maggie. I'm amazed (and delighted) that you can get a mobile phone provider that lets you make calls for the same price right across the UK. I'm liking the sound of the Amazon vouchers as well! I hope you've settled in well in the 7 months since you've arrived.
May 21st 2015, 2:44 pm
#34
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
ALL properties are being changed to water meters, and I suspect that most, except for the more remote places, will already be changed. If you haven't got one you can ask the local water people to put one in, but then you can still decide, if you think it appropriate, to be charged on the old system, if they come and change it as part of their inmprovement scheme, then you have to go with the meter charges.
So under the 'old' UK system, you paid a set charge once a year to the local Council, but under the new system you pay for what you actually use?
May 21st 2015, 2:46 pm
#35
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
That is interesting about being changed to a water meter. No sign of that in our London area. Only concern would be if you have a leak and cannot get a plumber quickly! Signing on to utilities is SO easy here! We had Virgin Media TV, Internet and landline services set up within about a week but, as my husband loves TV and sports we went for a more expensive package( which seems to go up a couple of pounds every couple of months!) As we do not go out much for entertainment but walk a lot, it is worth it for us.
May 21st 2015, 2:48 pm
#36
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
another great link, thanks rebs.
May 21st 2015, 2:50 pm
#37
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
I wonder if it varies within a city, or only in different counties? For example, within different areas of Liverpool, or 'over the water' (the Wirral).
May 21st 2015, 5:30 pm
#38
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Re: TV/internet/phone fog
Something else that is done quite differently to how it is in Australia. Here, you pay your 'water rates' once a year, to a State government department, it's around AU$1,200 a year where I live. That's just for getting a water supply- we also have water metres installed and the meter reader comes around every two months, takes a reading of what we've used, and then we get a bill for every litre of water we use. Understandable I suppose, since water is so scarce here.
So under the 'old' UK system, you paid a set charge once a year to the local Council, but under the new system you pay for what you actually use?
So under the 'old' UK system, you paid a set charge once a year to the local Council, but under the new system you pay for what you actually use?
May 21st 2015, 6:18 pm
#39
Dichotomus tinker
Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 6,678
Re: TV/internet/phone fog
https://giffgaff.com/goodybags-3g
https://giffgaff.com/index/pricing
https://giffgaff.com/compare-pay-as-you-go-tariffs
international call rates to OZ look to be a decent price
https://giffgaff.com/index/international
May 21st 2015, 6:23 pm
#40
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Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 6,678
Re: TV/internet/phone fog
We pay £30 a month for our water in London, based I think on size of home, number of people living there, etc. £103 a month for electricity which will go down in summer when the heating is not on. £100 a month council tax. £94 for TV/landline/broadband and I pay £16 a month for my mobile phone.
they appear to be very good running costs [estimating] ~ £300/mth average flat across 12 months
One can eat quite well and cheaply here but I don't as I am too tempted by all the lovely things I have missed!
