Sky vs Virgin Media: Who wins the battle of the bundles?

By Adam Mitchell Staff Writer Monday, 30 July 2007

Want TV and broadband? BT - Best for freeview & on-demand, but no extra channels Sky - Best for sports and entertainment, but reliant on satellite Tiscali - Best for price and on-demand content, but still second best to Sky and Virgin Media Virgin Media - Good all-rounder, and generally well priced Related news about Sky and Virgin Media See our other recent news about Sky and Virgin Media: Virgin Media slashes broadband cost to £4.50 Virgin Media has entered the top 3 cheapest broadband provider table with their £4.50 broadband package. How does Tiscali TV compare to Sky and Virgin Media? Tiscali, the champions of low-cost broadband, has finally launched its new digital TV service, and with prices starting at a mere £19.99, it’s set to take on Virgin Media and Sky head to head! Tiscali Rolls Out Digital TV Bundle Package Tiscali, the Italian-based internet provider with close to 1.5 million high-speed internet customers across the UK, has finally rolled out its bundled digital TV service. Less throttling for Virgin Media broadband users Heavy users of Virgin Media's broadband service are starting to smile again with news that Virgin Media's controversial traffic throttling policies are to be eased up.

To appease this common triptych of consumer desire, companies that offer these services have devised the ‘bundle’.

A bundle refers to the grouping of two or more of the following common services: Phone, Broadband and Digital TV, for a discounted rate and the benefit of dealing with a single service provider.

Recently, a well publicised battle has broken out between the two big dogs of the bundle world, Sky and Virgin Media. All very exciting, but of little relevance to the consumer, who is primarily concerned with getting the best bundle for their bucks.

So, who truly can boast the best broadband and TV bundle?

For a product that is marketed as a simple and straightforward way to get phone, digital TV, and broadband, the pricing systems are far from transparent.

In fact, weighing up the pros and cons is a bit like judging a closely contested boxing match, with both companies landing seemingly knockout blows only to lose the advantage with a cheap shot.

That little issue of line rental

Take Sky’s flagship 'See Speak Surf' package, which offers Sky TV, free evening and weekend calls and 8MB broadband all for £26.

This would appear to have the upper hand over Virgin’s '3 for £30' offer, which offers fewer TV channels, only 2MB broadband and free calls at weekends, but not evenings.

However, when you read the small print in Sky’s contract, you discover that you’ll still be required to pay BT £11 a month line rental (Virgin Media’s packages do not require line rental as they are delivered via cable), making the real deal, a less attractive, £37 per month.

That doesn’t automatically mean that Sky is always dearer than Virgin Media as some of the more expensive packages are cheaper with Sky. Virgin’s VIP package for example works out to over £10 per month more expensive than the Sky equivalent.

So where are we? Who is winning?

Considering Sky’s dominance of the market many would assume that Virgin Media would storm in and massively undercut Sky’s long unchallenged prices, but this simply isn’t the case and, as such, there is no outright winner.

To summarise a convoluted pricing system by both parties, it is safe to say that neither Sky nor Virgin will offer you significant savings over the other, no matter which option you choose.

It's all about personal preference

How then do I decide? With the obvious ‘choose the cheapest’ option falling by the wayside, the battle becomes more a case of personal preferences, because, although both companies offer broadly similar bundles at similar prices, they have their strengths and weaknesses in different areas.

As such, it is, therefore, necessary to compromise in some areas of the package to benefit in others.

Virgin Media offer greater overall bundle flexibility – with Sky you have to have digital TV as one option – and Mr Branson’s bunch also provide the option of a mobile phone, whereas Sky doesn’t.

However, if you aren’t interested in getting a mobile, then Sky’s landline packages are cheaper and their ‘See Speak Surf’ package offers free weekend and evening calls.

On speed

If the internet is your highest priority, then the top Virgin package offers a massive 20MB cable connection (which means no contention on the line, and no speed reductions irrespective of where you live), which is unmatched by Sky.

But they have no middle ground, as their small and medium packages offer just 2MB and 4MB respectively.

The Sky packages, on the other hand are more evenly spaced, running up to 4MB, 8MB, 16MB over ADSL (which unfortunately does mean that speeds will vary, particularly if you live far from the telephone exchange). So while Sky offers better speeds over a variety of packages, the performance of the service will never match Virgin’s cable connection.

If you definitely do not want digital TV, we would recommend you plump for Virgin Media, who offer Broadband, Landline and a Mobile as a package, whereas with Sky’s packages you have to have Sky TV.

On the box

If, however, digital TV is a necessity to you, then Sky offer you a slightly more comprehensive digital package; you get 120 standard channels with even the cheapest package, as opposed to just 30 for Virgin’s basic package. In addition to this, Virgin Media’s TV service is unable to provide Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News due to an ongoing legal palaver.

But, before you rush out and buy a new HDTV to get the full benefit of Sky’s plethora of quality programming, be aware that they charge a whopping £359 to fully equip and supply your home with HD capabilities, as opposed to Virgin who provide HDTV for FREE (although there is very little HD programming available for Virgin at present).

Above all, the main downfall with Virgin Media still remains their coverage – or lack of it. After considering all aspects and choosing Virgin, you may discover that you are among the 45% of the UK that isn’t supported by Virgin Media’s cable network. A problem you are unlikely to encounter with Sky who currently boast 98% coverage.

Who wins?

There are plenty of reasons to choose either company and, aside from the Virgin supply shortage, your preferences over TV, phone and internet will more than likely govern your choice. But, if we did have to pick a winner, we think that Virgin Media, with their more-than-adequate digital TV channels and better quality cable broadband connection, still have the upper hand in the bundle stakes... for now.

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