Cost of BT + TV packages

Hi,

I'm moving house soon, and looking to sign up with BT for broadband and TV.

I'm currently with Sky, but there is no Sky LLU presence at my new exchange, and with my mortgage increasing significantly, I want to ditch Sky TV, at least for a year or two anyway.

I've been looking at the BT starter vs BT essential packages.

I would want the essential package, because it allows TV recording, so presumably it is a different TV box you get.

However, there is a £5 a month difference in monthly fee between the starter and essential packages, and I can't see anything stating that this is just a temporary cost to pay for the higher hardware cost of the box.

£5/month isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but if this is a permanent feature of the contract, I think it is a bit cheeky, since once the hardware cost is clawed back, you are paying for essentially nothing.

Does anyone know what this is all about?

The £5 difference is permanent and yes two different sets of hardware.

Given twin tuner FreeView/FreeSat PVR HD prices, its not too bad over a two or three year period. Of course the key once outside the minimum contract term is to negotiate in return for another 12 month lock in.

When you put it like that, I suppose it isn't too bad.