Technology Tamed But In Need Of Help (NTL)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	NTL
Date:	02/01/02 (271 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 24/7 Broadband Net access, Loads of cable channels, Line rental included in price

Disadvantages: Service is a bit patchy at times

Having assassinated World Online recently, I thought I’d strike a balance with a tale of initial disappointment turned to real satisfaction and contentment(for now?).

Those who read the Sceaming.net/World Online thing will have noticed that I switched to NTL back in May 2001. The package was attractive and included Broadband Net access; dedicated, high speed modem and digital, cable TV.

One of the problems I’d been having was my phone line being tied up whilst surfing the Net. WO had provided a call answering/messaging service via free software that was downloaded. However, it was unreliable and it wasn’t uncommon to be faced by a stroppy friend who’d been trying get hold of me but couldn’t. So the thought of my phone line being freed up 24/7 really appealed.

***The deal***
I went for the Digitalplus package. This included…
# Unmetered Net access through a dedicated modem with it’s own line.
# Base pack of digital TV channels + 3 further packs (explain packs in a sec).
# Monthly telephone line rental.
# Digital services e.g. interactive games; TV e-mail; on-demand movies and even pizza ordering from your armchair!!

I’d better explain the TV packs concept. Basically, you get the Base pack come what may. This includes the free TV digitals including BBC Choice, BBC Knowledge, BBC News 24 and ITV2 amongst others. Base packs 1 – 5 are categorised according to interests.

Entertainment pack e.g. Sky One, Bravo, Sci-Fi

Fun pack e.g. E4, Paramount (one of my favs), Eurosport

Life pack e.g. Living, QVC (aaaaargh)

Music pack e.g. MTV, VH1

And World pack e.g. CNN (watched loads of this since Sept 11), Discovery , History channel and so on…

The digital equivalent of Teletext is a downer as it’s real slow. On occasions, I’ve ended up hurling the remote at the TV(...at the cat, really) because I’
ve had to wait so long.

Telephone calls aren’t included in the price but seemed reasonable enough. 3p per min. peak-time; 2p per min. off-peak (6pm –8am weekday; all weekend) and 1p per min. weekend. There is a minimum connection charge of 4.9p. Calls to other NTL customers are, otherwise, free off-peak (subject to 4.9p charge).

Of course, it wasn’t long before the lure of Sky Sports beckoned to me so, having resisted for about 4 weeks; I tried the whole package including movies and sports on a month’s trial. I’d had a call suggesting that I could try this from NTL at a special price of £32.99 per month. The extras I got included the sports channels (Sky Sports 1, 2 and 3); all of the movie channels (Sky Movie max 1 –5; Sky Premier 1 – 3; Sky Cinema 1 and 2 and a whole host of Disney channels).

Whilst writing, I realise a lot of folks won’t want to pay £50pm of their hard earned on this sort of thing. Well for £14.99 you can get Base pack digital TV; Broadband access including dedicated modem and phone line; telephone line rental and all of the digital services (bottom line – 24/7 Net access without hassle + loads of extras).

Sold yet? Well, I did have problems to start off with. The initial installation left loose ends and I had to get the engineers back in to re-tune the TV properly and finish off my telephone points (NTL have to install their on as they can’t use BT points). The guy that tied things up for me was A1 and I was well happy with the service even though it was Take 2.

My biggest gripe with NTL was that my first bill was for the full £50. They reckoned that the offer didn’t include movies and sports. Letter of complaint time and one of the head honchos e-mailed me back to apologise and said it would be sorted. Unfortunately, NTL committed the cardinal sin of NOT sorting it first time AGAIN and I had to write a second letter before I got my dos
h back.

Ever since, I’ve been happy. I can go on the Net whenever I want; we’ve got a whole vista of channels to cater for everyone and I managed to sneak past my wife’s dicktat that I couldn’t have the Sports channels as I’d be watching them all the time (...there’s more than one way to skin a cat...). People can even speak to me on the phone whenever they want (can’t have everything, I suppose).

What worries me is that NTL are having financial difficulties. An article in the Sunday Times recently reported that NTL have spent $15 million shoring up a near bankrupt American telecom firm. It goes on to say that they may run out of money next year. The company is in the middle of a huge cost cutting exercise, which is at the expense of thousands of jobs.

I honestly think that their product is excellent and would be devastated to see another superior product outlasted by inferior ones (e.g. Sky – certainly on price and VFM). If you are thinking of changing your ISP, having cable installed or even just changing your phone provider please consider NTL. They have a really good website at NTL.com if you want to check out my story and I hope that you come around to my way of thinking. This is an excellent proposition that DESERVES support.

p.s. If anyone from NTL reads this then I accept cheques or cash – just contact me through my homepage!!

Marandina 2002

Editors note: Recent changes include:
# Sky1 now available in Base Pack (not in extra channel block)
#Broadband access not available in £14.99 option - just phone + TV

Info courtesy of Deets - my thanks to you.
#

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