Best Broadband, TV and Landline Phone Deals | UK

Looking for a broadband deal with a bundled home phone service and included TV channels?

In this article, we’ve taken a look at and ranked the best broadband, landline and TV bundles on the market right now, and explained the differences between each of the major providers offering these packages at the moment.

After that, we’ve explained some key things to consider when shopping for a broadband, phone and TV deal, to help you find the right plan for your household.

Best broadband, TV and phone deals

Let’s begin our reviews.

1. EE Broadband

EE is one of the few broadband providers that still offers a landline service, and they also give you access to what was formerly known as BT TV, before it was moved across to the EE brand a number of years ago (because BT owns EE).

This means you can build a broadband, TV and landline bundle that works for you, including with the option of getting Sky TV channels such as Sky Atlantic and Sky Sports, as well as TNT Sports, HBO Max, NOW Cinema, documentaries, and more.

EE still offers a TV box you can use to record and rewind live TV, and you also get the choice to get an Apple TV 4K device instead if you’d prefer, for a more app-based streaming experience.

The main reason we like EE though is for their broadband service.

They offer download speeds of up to 1.6 Gbps in most areas, making them one of the fastest widely-available providers on the market.

EE also includes their WiFi 7 Smart Hub 7 Plus or Smart Hub 7 Pro router on all plans by default, for no additional fee. Most other providers only offer WiFi 7 tech on their most expensive tariffs.

EE Broadband is very consistent from our testing, having used their service for about three years now, and they have good customer service as well.

Once you choose a broadband speed and a TV plan, the final step is to add on a landline service to your EE plan.

The one downside to this provider is this last part – adding landline calling to your bundle – can be a bit expensive. There is a fee just to have a home phone service, and their anytime calling bundles are also a bit pricey.

On the whole though, given their broadband speeds and consistency, TV box, and range of TV channels, we still think EE is the best broadband, phone and TV provider on the market at the moment.

Overall value
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Price
Check on EE

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Pros

• Fast, consistent download speeds.
• Great WiFi tech.
• Good choice of TV packs.
• Really good choice of TV boxes.

Cons

• Home phone plans are a bit expensive.

2. Sky Broadband

If you want a broadband, home phone and TV package from a provider with really good customer service, and a huge range of TV channels to choose from, Sky is definitely worth looking at.

As you might expect, this provider is a great choice for accessing their own-brand channels like Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, and Sky Atlantic, and other channels and streaming services are included on certain TV packs, such as HBO Max, Disney+, Hayu, Netflix, and more.

Sky even offers the option to buy a smart TV on a contract with them, known as Sky Glass, but you can also use their cheaper, more flexible Sky Stream pucks to watch cable TV channels through your broadband connection.

The downside to Sky is their default WiFi router isn’t the best, in terms of the signal it offers, and you’ll need to pay more to upgrade to their Max Hub WiFi 6 option.

However, Sky’s broadband speeds are really good, at up to 5 Gbps in some areas, and they’re also very consistent. According to Ofcom data, Sky consistently has some of the lowest complaint numbers of any major broadband and TV provider.

Even better, your home phone service is included as standard when you buy Sky Broadband – there’s no extra monthly fee just to get a landline, like there is with EE. But you can add an inclusive calling bundle during the checkout process if you’d prefer not to be billed per minute for calls that you make.

Sky is quite hard to beat if you want broadband, TV, and a home phone service, but we just wish their WiFi router on most plans was as good as EE’s ones.

Overall value
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Price
Check on Sky

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Pros

• Huge range of cable channels and streaming options.
• Extremely fast maximum download speeds in some areas.
• Great customer service.
• Comes with a free pay-as-you-go landline service.

Cons

• Need to pay extra to upgrade to a WiFi 6 router.

3. Virgin Media

Virgin Media is another very fast broadband provider that allows you to build your own broadband, TV and calls plan – though they do have pre-made bundles you can choose from as well.

They offer download speeds of up to 1,130 Mbps on their Gig1 tariff, and have an even greater range of TV channels to choose from than EE – especially when it comes to entertainment and Sky channels. TNT Sports is a separate add-on to the regular sports pack though, and it can be a bit expensive.

The main downside to Virgin Media is they no longer offer a landline service in parts of the UK that have been upgraded to their full fibre technology.

You can tell if this affects you if you go to their broadband-only deals page, and put in your postcode. If you see their Gig2 plan when you scroll down, this means you’re in a full-fibre area, and can’t get a landline service.

If you can get a home phone plan from Virgin though, they generally bundle their Anytime Chatter add-on as standard, giving you inclusive calling to UK numbers by default, which is nice.

Then, it’s easy to add on a Flex TV plan if you click “Customise your bundle” during the checkout process, to get access to channels such as Sky Sports on a rolling monthly basis.

If you do this, you’re not locked into the TV aspect of the deal or the specific channels you want to watch for 24 months, like you are with EE or Sky most of the time.

Just note that Virgin’s TV streaming box isn’t as good as EE’s TV box at the moment. It is cheaper, meaning it’s easier to get more of them to use in different rooms around the house, but it doesn’t allow you to pause or record live TV.

Overall value
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Price
Check on Virgin Media

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Pros

• Excellent range of TV channels, probably the best on the market.
• Fast download speeds.
• Home phone plans often come with anytime calling as standard.
• Possible to get cable channels on a rolling monthly basis with Flex TV.

Cons

• Not the best TV box.
• Home phone service is not available in full fibre areas.

4. Vodafone Broadband

Vodafone has a bit of a different approach to selling broadband, TV, and home phone bundles.

Rather than including cable TV, they allow you to bundle Apple TV (the streaming service), and get an Apple TV 4K streaming box, along with your broadband connection. Just choose the broadband and TV option after selecting a speed tier on the Vodafone Broadband website.

This still allows you to do things like watch live sports, but just means you’ll need to subscribe to other streaming services to do this, such as NOW TV, then access them through your Apple TV 4K device.

The benefit of this approach is it doesn’t mean you need to lock into an expensive cable TV contract to get access to the channels you want to watch.

Vodafone Broadband is very reasonably priced, and for just broadband and home phone, they’re usually the cheapest provider on the market. Their inclusive minutes bundles on their landline service are also very cheap.

Not to mention, Vodafone is one of the fastest broadband providers in many parts of the UK, offering download and upload speeds of up to 2.2 Gbps in CityFibre areas, and they have a very fast 900/110 Mbps package in regions with just Openreach access.

Overall value
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Price
Check on Vodafone

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Pros

• Really good value for money broadband plans.
• Great range of reasonably priced landline calling add-ons.
• Very fast maximum download and upload speeds.

Cons

• No cable TV channels included.

How to choose a broadband, TV and phone plan

In this section, we’ve explained some key things to think about when choosing a broadband, TV and phone bundle to buy.

How are broadband, phone and TV deals structured?

Some broadband providers offer broadband and TV bundles, with a certain broadband speed, and a certain group of TV channels included as a set package.

However, normally the best way to get a broadband, TV and phone package is to build your own bundle, because this will allow you to create a plan that meets your exact needs.

Fortunately, all of the major broadband and TV providers now allow you to do this.

The first thing to do is choose a broadband speed through the regular checkout process. Then, you’ll add on packs of TV channels or streaming services, before opting into a home phone service, and getting an inclusive calling plan if you need one.

This process of building a bundle may seem a bit confusing due to the number of choices on offer with most providers, but once you begin creating a package, it’s easier than you might think.

Which broadband providers offer TV and home phone service?

With recent full fibre broadband upgrades occurring around the UK, many broadband providers have stopped offering home phone services.

And the number of companies that offer cable TV functionality is still quite limited.

The only remaining broadband providers that also offer home phone and TV service are:

• EE
• BT (but you’ll be buying EE TV – their TV products have moved to their EE brand)
• Sky
• Virgin Media (but home phone service is not available in full fibre areas)
• Vodafone (Apple TV instead of cable TV channels like Sky Sports)

How do digital voice landlines work?

The digital voice switchover has now been completed throughout the UK, meaning that the old copper phone network has been turned off.

This means that you no longer need to pay line rental to get a broadband connection – your home internet is now a separate service from your landline, but they both use the same fibre cable technology.

To get a home phone connection, you will need to opt into this with a broadband provider that offers this service. Some providers now charge an extra monthly fee to get a landline connection, such as EE.

In terms of actual functionality, digital voice is very similar to the old landline service, except your home phone will no longer work in case of a power outage.

Once you have a broadband connection with digital voice added on, to get started, you typically just need to plug your phone into your broadband router and then into a power socket before you can begin making and receiving calls.

How are TV channels delivered, and do I need a satellite dish?

These days, pay TV services are almost always delivered through your broadband connection.

You still get a set-top box, or potentially a more modern streaming box, in order to access the channels you want to watch.

But rather than connecting to a satellite or using a separate coaxial cable, this device usually plugs straight into your broadband router’s Ethernet port, or can be connected via WiFi.

If you have multiple TVs throughout the house, you can normally choose to add on extra TV streaming boxes when buying a given broadband and TV deal.

This means that getting started with pay TV is now a lot simpler and less involved than it used to be. Sky for example is no longer installing satellite dishes, and nor is any other pay TV provider.

However, it also means that you need to ensure your broadband connection is fast enough for the TV streaming you’re planning to do.

This is especially true if you want to stream TV in 4K ultra HD, which is very data-intensive, or if you often have multiple people streaming TV on different devices at once.

You can use our broadband speed needs calculator to get a rough idea of the download and upload speed you might need, given how many people are online at home.

How to get the TV channels that you want

When you buy a broadband deal and begin adding on TV channels, they will normally be sold as part of a pack.

For example, a movies pack might give you access to Sky Cinema and other similar channels. An entertainment pack might give you access to HBO Max and Sky Atlantic.

When buying, think about which channels you most want to watch, and add the appropriate TV bundles to your plan to give you what you need.

• For Sky Sports, all of the big three providers we mentioned earlier in the article can give you access to these channels, allowing you to watch F1, cricket, the Premier League, and more.
• For TNT Sports, EE is best, but this can be added on with Sky and Virgin Media as well, potentially for a slightly higher price.
• For documentaries and things like the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and so on, Virgin Media and Sky are the best choices for this.
• For cartoons, Virgin Media and Sky are your best bet.

Each provider also has its own range of other streaming services such as Apple TV and Discovery+ that you can get for free, or for a discounted price, when you include certain TV bundles on your plan.

Landline calling packages explained

When you add a home phone service to your broadband and TV plan, you have a few options when it comes to paying for the calls that you make.

In general, most providers offer the following options.

• Pay as you talk: you’ll pay per minute of calls made, with the cost depending on the number you dial. There may also be a monthly fee to get the landline service itself.
• Evening and weekend calls: you’ll get inclusive calls to UK landlines and mobiles, typically from 7pm to 7am, as well as during the weekend (this type of package is becoming increasingly rare to see, however).
• Anytime calls: you’ll get inclusive calls to UK landlines and mobiles at any time of the day or night.
• Anytime UK and international calls: you’ll get inclusive calls to UK landlines and mobiles at any time of the day or night, as well as to certain numbers in certain international countries.

If you don’t make many calls with your landline, or mostly just want to receive calls, pay as you talk is generally the best option.

Inclusive calling bundles can be expensive with certain providers, though Vodafone’s options are quite cheap to buy.

What should I expect to pay for a broadband, TV and phone bundle?

For a broadband, TV and phone bundle, the cost breakdown normally looks something like this:

• Broadband: £25-£35 a month, depending on the speed chosen.
• TV: £20 for a cheap plan with just entertainment channels, or up to £60-£80 for an all-inclusive bundle with Sky Sports, movies, streaming services, entertainment channels, and so on.
• Home phone: £0 per month to pay as you talk (excluding per-minute call charges), or typically £15-£20 per month for anytime calls.
• Total: £45-£135 per month.

How to save money when buying

Broadband, home phone and cable TV bundles can be expensive, as we just showed, so here are some ways to save money when shopping.

• Only pay for the broadband speed you really need. You might not need to pay for an ultrafast plan. However, make sure to get enough bandwidth for the TV streaming you plan to be doing. 200-300 Mbps should be plenty for most households.
• Avoid getting anytime phone calls from a provider that this is very expensive with, such as EE or Sky, if possible.
• Use more flexible TV streaming services, such as NOW TV, to access the most expensive TV channels (such as Sky Sports) only when you need them, rather than locking into a 24 month TV contract.
• Consider choosing a provider that also allows you to bundle your mobile phone plan with your broadband, in order to save more money. For example, Vodafone offers discounts and other benefits for existing pay monthly mobile customers if you sign up to their broadband service. EE will also upgrade certain existing mobile plans when you buy broadband from them.

Conclusion

This is the end of our guide to broadband, phone, and pay TV bundles.

In general, we think EE is a really good choice, though Sky is also worth looking at as well in most cases.

If you’re still not sure which provider to choose, leave us a comment below, and we’ll reply with our thoughts as soon as we can.

About the author

Tyler Bevan

Tyler is the co-founder of Broadband Savvy. He has been helping people improve their broadband connectivity since 2018 by writing about fibre broadband and mobile broadband providers, as well as creating tutorials to help people improve their broadband speeds and Wi-Fi signal.

Tyler is responsible for the majority of buyer’s guides and broadband reviews published on Broadband Savvy. He has a wealth of experience testing and reviewing different broadband tariffs, including fibre internet plans, as well as 4G and 5G broadband deals. He is responsible for testing and evaluating Wi-Fi routers, performing speed and latency tests, and comparing the value for money of different broadband providers on the market in the UK.

Before co-founding Broadband Savvy, Tyler had a long history of tinkering with computers. He built his first PC at the age of 12, and since then, he’s become obsessed with all things networking and internet-related. He’s a massive gamer, loves Rocket League, and also plays Sunday League football.