ntl:Telewest becoming Virgin Media but is there real change?

[Bob Crabtree]

Cable company ntl:Telewest is renaming itself Virgin Media, building on the rights that it acquired in spring last year to use the well-respected brand when it bought out Virgin Mobile.

But mystery still surrounds what packages and pricing deals the newly renamed company will offer or whether there will be any changes at all to the available bundles.

More.

[snedger]

If you want to, you can opt to change the domain name part of your email address from ntlworld to virginmedia. Presumably there will be forwarding from the old ntlworld domain.
During the last takeover, cwcom domain addresses were only forwarded for 6 months. I lost some contacts and most annoyingly I lost my handle with Westwood.
The Branson promise that he would sort the trains out has taken a lot of years to fulfil.
Perhaps, similarly, NTL customers will have to wait 7 years or so before they can get a service that works.

[nichomach]

Well, personally we've been with Telewest for a few years, and the best thing they could do (aside from replacing those terrible Pace cable tuners) is leave the damn service alone.

[Moby-Dick]

maybee they'll fit digital cable to Milton Keynes

I'm sure I've seen a gantt chart with 'when hell freezes over' as a time line....

[Koolpc]

NTL have been superb.

[Moby-Dick]

not in Milton Keynes

they bought out BT's substandard cable system , and doubled the basic price with no extra service , essentially because picking up an analogue signal isn't very easy in MK.

so unless you have Sky , you *have* to pay an extra 4 quid a month just for basic terrestrial TV ( + news24 and sky 1 I think )

[zag2me]

I'm hoping this takeover wont effect their wonderful customer service, that has been charging me the wrong lower fee for 2 years

[d3fiant]

not in Milton Keynes

they bought out BT's substandard cable system , and doubled the basic price with no extra service , essentially because picking up an analogue signal isn't very easy in MK.

so unless you have Sky , you *have* to pay an extra 4 quid a month just for basic terrestrial TV ( + news24 and sky 1 I think )

From MK eh, just moved there myself and have to say this ADSL low speed malarky is fekin annoying, makes me pine for my old NTL 4mb cable which is a statement I never thought I would make. Guess 2.6MB is the best I can get

[Moby-Dick]

I had it easy for a bit as I got on the BT21CN Trial and had a 10 meb fibre coming into the garage !

sadly this isn't the case any more , so I'm back down to a more pedestrian 512k

[d3fiant]

ouch, guess I am lucky to have 2.6MB then, was told I would only get 1.5MB but connections to Bradwell Abbey exchange are quite good
I registered for the pipex trial see wot happens.

Back on topic I do not think much will change apart from the brand, their broadband options are very good as there are no limits

[Redperil]

I've just signed up for the NTL 4mb service in Belfast; I wonder if Virgin media will undercut prices by much in their introductory
offers? Ah well, 4mb for £17/month seems fair enough at the moment.

[BUFF]

for those of you who don't read The Sunday Times
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/...cle1315839.ece
NTL came 2nd

[merlin2001]

I'm watching this with keen interest - got telewest for internet, tv and phone at home already (not really for any value proposition, just can't be bothered to be paying too many seperate bills) and just cancelled my O2 mobile contract (increasingly lousy signal at home), so a quad-play with savings would suit me nicely.

anyone know what network Virgin Mobile uses? It used to be T-Mobile, but I know that they had an increasingly unhappy relationship. Would be no point going back to an O2 network contract under the virgin banner....

[steve threlfall]

for those of you who don't read The Sunday Times
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/...cle1315839.ece
NTL came 2nd

I dont think the Sunday Times are the best people to review broadband though. A 4mb line from Telewest does not cost £50 a month for a start. We have the most basic broadband line available, which is the cheapest service and its a nifty 4mb.

[Redperil]

I read the Sunday Times review in the Gear supplement (I think that's the name of it anyway) and I seem to recall that the results were taken from a recent PC Pro review of ISPs.

[BUFF]

I dont think the Sunday Times are the best people to review broadband though.

as already stated it was " able to cut through the guff thanks to exclusive consumer surveys by PC Pro magazine "

A 4mb line from Telewest does not cost £50 a month for a start. We have the most basic broadband line available, which is the cheapest service and its a nifty 4mb.

they don't say that it does " to £50pm for 4Mbps with unlimited landline calls at evenings and weekends, and 170 TV channels"
The basic Telewest broadband is supposed to be 2Mb - but then again lots of us on here are getting service levels for less than the published price.