Before selecting a home phone service it is worth knowing a little about the technology. There are three basic alternatives - a service delivered over the BT phone lines (by BT itself or a competitor of BT); a service delivered over fibre-optic cable from a company such as Virgin Media; or a so-called VOIP (voice over internet) service delivered over the internet by companies such as Vonage or Skype.
Don't forget, our digital experts are on the phone to answer any questions you have too!
Have you read our info about digital switchover?
The digital switchover is an exciting time in the digital TV world. It will see TV signals switching from analogue - which sends TV signals through airwaves - to digital, where signals are converted to small packets of information before being sent through an aerial, satellite, cable or phone line.
Digital switchover in the UK is being implemented by DigitalUK and is an ongoing process between 2008 and 2012. The Government is switching off the existing analogue TV signal that has been the back bone of TV transmission for over 50 years. The analogue TV signal which provides only 5 terrestrial channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4 and Channel 5), is being replaced by the digital transmission of the TV signal - a process referred to as "digital switchover". Digital switchover is being undertaken region by region in the UK - the Borders of Scotland have already switched-over and all the other TV regions will switch by 2012. The new digital TV service is still accessible via your standard (terrestrial) aerial, but you need a digital decoder (e.g. a Freeview box) to receive the digital TV signal.