Sometimes it pays to get all your utilities sorted into one big bundle. Not only is it cheaper annually if you find a deal that combines your internet, television and phone line but it's also a lot more convenient to only have a single bill instead of 3, all demanding to be paid at a different times in the month. But this can only happen after you compare broadband tv and phone packages. If you're interested in grabbing everything from a single provider there's three big packages to look at from some big names; Virgin Media, BT and Sky. Here's a run down of their broadband and TV offerings - we've skipped the phone line part as they are all very similar.

Virgin Media

Broadband

The Virgin Media package is by far the best as far as the broadband connection goes, offering speeds of up to 50 Mbps in some areas, which is one of the fastest speeds available in the country. There's a number of different speeds to choose from but the fact the net uses a cable connection instead of the usual BT phone lines, you'll get much better speeds than an equivalent ADSL line making this is a great choice for people that want super fast internet.

TV

Virgin TV offers less choice than Sky but is more traditional than BT vision. Again it comes in a number of different flavours and includes most of the major channels you can find on Sky, with the exception of Sky's own movie and entertainment channels and the more special interest stuff that you'll find on satellite. Overall it's a great TV experience but if you have a special interest channel in mind or looking for more foreign television, Sky wins out.

Sky

Broadband

Sky broadband uses ADSL, so it's not as fast as Virgin but pretty comparable to BT. The difference between Sky and BT is that Sky are far less likely to limit your connection or drop your speed if you're downloading too much; in fact, they are well known for being one of the fairest providers in the UK when it comes to heavy downloaders, so if you tend to use your net connection a lot they are a great choice.

TV

Sky have been doing TV for a long time, and it shows. There's a great number of channels available, a big effort to push HD, the best on demand system in the country and some of the best entertainment and movie channels around, all of which are exclusive to Sky. Sky TV comes in different flavours from a basic package to the full movie, sport and entertainment offering so you only pay for what you watch.

BT

Broadband

BT broadband is your run of the mill ADSL broadband and despite the name being well known, BT is nowhere near the best when it comes to broadband. The more expensive packages work well, but basic packages are heavily limited and usually come with a strict bandwidth limit that you can't exceed. You'll also find speeds get significantly slower in busy periods.

TV

BT Vision is an IPTV service - that means unlike Virgin (which uses cable) and Sky (which uses satellite), Vision actual connects your television using your existing internet connection. As such it's got its own distinct advantages and disadvantages, including a cheaper overall price but a lack of content compared to Virgin and Sky. The list of channels is the same as with freeview, but you also get access to various amounts of on demand content including films.