BT TV with any Broadband Supplier

[Bully]

Hi I currently have BT TV and BT broadband but BT do not offer Fibre where I live whereas other suppliers do. Is it possible to keep BT TV and switch to another broadband supplier that offers fibre?? Up until now I have been told that if I want to continue with BT TV I have to stay with BT broadband. I know I could switch to Sky and get the same BT channels but dont really want to switch TV supplier.

[Anonymous]

@Bully 

BT/EE TV is only available alongside a BT/EE broadband contract.

If you like aspects of the TV service and have a good Freeview service where you live, then you can buy BT/EE TV boxes second hand on eBay, plug an aerial in and use it, but you will not be able to access any channels streamed over the internet by BT/EE.

[naylor2006]

Its a shame really that there are not more IPTV providers so that we are free to choose a Broadband provider and an IPTV provider if we so wish. One of the main reasons for joining BT was that I could get TV through them and pricing was favourable against Sky's.

Speaking of Sky, Im pretty sure you can get their Satellite TV Services these days separately and probably a route I would take under different circumstances, so you could get your Fibre with another provider then put Sky Q ontop.

On that however, who are the other providers, are you in an Openreach area? Fibre Checker (openreach.com)

I wonder if its just a case that BT havent updated their records to reflect you can get fibre yet or havent finished their part, I say this as this happened to me.

[Anonymous]

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@naylor2006wrote:

Its a shame really that there are not more IPTV providers so that we are free to choose a Broadband provider and an IPTV provider if we so wish. One of the main reasons for joining BT was that I could get TV through them and pricing was favourable against Sky's.

Speaking of Sky, Im pretty sure you can get their Satellite TV Services these days separately and probably a route I would take under different circumstances, so you could get your Fibre with another provider then put Sky Q ontop.

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It is unlikely Sky will offer satellite beyond 2028 when their current SES contract expires, they have been very up front about this. 

They want new and existing customers on Sky Glass or Stream. You can still buy Q, but it is not discounted as much any longer nor very obvious on the Sky website.

Technological advances like MAUD will improve access to streaming across ISPs, but how long is a piece of string?

[naylor2006]

I noted when I was looking to move away from Virgin as Openreach fibre was in that Sky Q was crazy expensive, but it was the PVR that I really wanted. Sky Stream was an option but having to pay extra to skip ads and also I read in lots of reviews that it relies heavily on existing on demand services for 'recording' shows. I want a real hard drive which eventually let me to BT, once they got around to allowing me to order 🙂

It makes sense though, surely satellite is far more expensive than internet based TV, Sky having to pay a third party to be able to beam their content, the addition of UHD channels eating up extra bandwidth on that also equates to more money Im sure.

But once everyone is using Internet for TV that does come with another issue doesnt it, bandwidth there also. 2028 is 4 years away, if it was financially worth it I still go with one broadband supplier and Sky Q, the contract will be shorter than 4 years, in which time maybe BT can offer fibre at the OP's address. Slightly irrelevant as Sky Q isnt cheap and Sky's pricing structure does my blooming head in, IE the method where you must have all of this just to have the opportunity to get the one small thing you actually want.