# UTV Talk - is there a catch ?



## zag (25 Jan 2005)

Having studiously ignored all 'move your phone account to us and we will save you loads of money' ads for ages since we don't spend a whole lot on the phone anyway, UTV Talk has now caught my eye.

It all seems a bit good, but (here's the cynic in me) surely there's a catch.

Most of our phonecalls would be evening and weekend and all would be under 60 minutes, so this pretty much means a total drop in call costs, with the same standing charges.  Most recent bill shows just over 4 hours for the most recent 2 months.

For the odd occasional international call (maybe 5-10 a year) they claim to be 10% cheaper than *all* eircom standard charges.

Aha, I just saw a possible catch of a minimum call charge of 5.71c - how does this tie in with the claims of free calls under 60 minutes ?  Do they insist on a minimum number of peak call minutes ?  eircom seem to have a similar minimum charge from a quick analysis of my bill.

Just wondering what other have found if they have moved.

Cheers,

z


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## euroDilbert (25 Jan 2005)

I moved about two months ago - no noticable catches so far. Big reduction in call cost.

However :

(1) Line rental is still paid to Eircom - I think this is due to technical problems in the line unbundling and charging software. All local/UK off-peak calls < 1 hour are free, as advertised. I understand this will be sorted out in the next few months. I don't really care about this as the only difference will be 1 bill instead of 2 - the amounts paid will be the same.

(2) Don't really make any peak calls - so no problems. No minimum call charge on the FREE calls.

(3) Only possible catch (for others) is that they seem to restrict the use of other phone services by barring their prefixes. This was discussed before on Askaboutmoney, but as I don't use any other call provider I don't care.


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## BlueSpud (25 Jan 2005)

I moved a few months ago and have noty yet found a catch, other than you have to sign up for at least 12 months.  My bills have dropped quite, and I make more calls than I used to as I have family in the UK which I can now ring for FREEEEEEEEE.  Eircom must be losing a large portion of their business as most people I know either have moved from them or are looking into it.  Serves them right, they broke my heart when I set up a small business.


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## ClubMan (25 Jan 2005)

I switched a few months ago and have no complaints. My bill is still about the same since most of the calls are _1890_ dial-up internet with a few local calls while I (still) await delivery of _UTV_ broadband. However if you make mostly local, national or _UK_ calls then it seems like a no brainer. I also like the online account facility which includes a fully itemised view of all calls for each billing period (month) including historical information. I know that this is also available with _eircom_ but they use huge _PDFs_ rather than a simple _HTML_ page which is a bit more hassle. One slight hitch is that the transfer of my line rental over to _UTV_ for single billing is still not done but this could be due to _eircom_ dragging their heels with line unbundling. One other issues is that .


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## podgeandrodge (25 Jan 2005)

*utv*

It seems like UTV are having a little impact on Eircom - Eircom's Talktime package cost is being reduced from next month from Eur29.99 to Eur27.99 including line rental - still not as good as UTV as you have a specific number of minutes but edging closer.

www.eircom.ie/talktime


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## horse (27 Jan 2005)

*re*

Folks,
        While reading this section, I have noticed that it only includes UTV and Eircom. Has anyone moved from Esat-BT? and have they noticed any difference in charges etc. Being the non IT type , is Broadband unlimited or are is there restrictions. Any contributions most welcome.
Regards,
Horse.


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## ClubMan (27 Jan 2005)

*Re: re*

*is Broadband unlimited or are is there restrictions.*

Note that this topic so far seems to be more about voice call charges rather than broadband. Some broadband packages have specific terms & conditions such as monthly download caps, contention ratios (basically how many users may share the same total bandwidth) etc. See [broken link removed] for a summary but note that some of the pricing details (particularly for the business packages) may not be bang up to date as I discovered recently. See the links in  for more information about broadband and packages on offer.


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## Sunny (28 Jan 2005)

*Re: re*

moved to utv in Sept no catch calls after 6pm to Ireland and uk are free(to landlines) for less than 60mins also weekends my bill has halved since I left eircom but am making more calls


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## zag (28 Jan 2005)

*Re: re*

Thanks for the replies all.

I have asked them to mail out their documentation and will most likely sign up.

z


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## ClubMan (28 Jan 2005)

*Re: re*

In case you didn't know you can access the Ts&Cs and sign up online.


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## zag (28 Jan 2005)

*Re: re*

Thanks for that - I know you can do it online, but the thing is I like to have a copy of whatever I sign.  That way, if they change the T&C I can go digging in the filing cabinet and get out the original.

z


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## BlueSpud (1 Feb 2005)

*Re: re*

You can print the T&C online....., as well as same the page so you have an electronic copy...., usefull in later correspondence.


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## murph05 (3 Feb 2005)

*Re: re*

I agree UTV is great value if you spend most of your money on calls to the UK... but UTV were recently rated by the Irish times as the only alternative carrier with higher off peak mobile rates than eircom... 

It also reveals that 60% of all residential call costs are to mobile..

Put it like this - off peak costs €0.012 cent per minute so if im on the phone for an hour it should only cost 72 cent....

UTV charge on average charge between 7 - 12 cent more per minute for mobile calls so they are really cleaning up !!! my advice is dont settle for an off peak mobile rate of over 12 cent !!!! :eeK


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## podgeandrodge (3 Feb 2005)

*utv*

Don't know where you're getting that Murph but the survey must be out of date. UTV are 5% cheaper than eircom for all mobile calls both peak and off peak. u.tv/talk/tariffs.asp?loc=ie


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## euroDilbert (4 Feb 2005)

*Re: utv*



> you will see that UTV are actually more expensive at the weekend than eircom for mobile...


Not according to the link you've included - they are cheaper then eircom on mobile calls at all times.

UTV are not significantly cheaper at peak times (5%), but like many people I make almost no peak time calls. 

Also unlike the 60% you quoted, I would estimate only about 5%, or less, of my call time is to mobiles.

Just goes to show that what's best for one user will be very different for others.

MY summary would be: UTV are best for users who mainly make off peak calls to landlines in Ireland and the UK.


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## rainyday (4 Feb 2005)

SPAM posts deleted.


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## Hansov (4 Feb 2005)

*Re: utv*

I was reading these threads yesterday and decided to check the tariffs which utv were quoting. (BTW I moved to utv in September and am enjoying the cheaper bills). Horror of horrors! their weekend rates to vodafone were 25 percent higher than eircom! The "contact us" button was pressed and email sent faster than the blink of an eye. Email reply within 30 minutes (quick turnaround I must say!) to say sorry, somebody forgot to update the tariffs on the site and that the billing was using lower rates! All the calls to vodafone rates are now showing 5 percent less than eircom. Must check my bills to ensure that my calls to mobile are cheaper!


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## Obi Wan Kenobi (4 Feb 2005)

I've checked my bills and the UTV rates to mobiles have been reducing in line with recent Eircom reductions...


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## zag (8 Feb 2005)

*Re: utv*

Finally got their printed material in the post - it consisted of a printout of the web form and instructions to see the T&C online . . .

Meantime I still can't work out the charges clearly.  I rang their support people and they suggested ringing accounts tomorrow.

Can someone who is currently using them please clarify the following :
1) going for clicksilver costs €29.99 per month and includes UTV talk telephony also according to the blurb
1.1) does this figure include VAT ?
1.2) does this figure include line rental ?

Their helpline weren't able to address these issues for some reason.

As it stands eircom are charging me €19.98 for line rental and €33.04 for broadband service, excluding VAT a month.

Assuming that the ITV figures are ex-VAT and don't include line rental that would make a savings of €3.05 per month, plus the savings inherent in the call plan - is this correct ?

Thanks,

z


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## podgeandrodge (8 Feb 2005)

*utv*

29.99 is for broadband only. their blurb about utv talk included is waffle - does not include line rental just the service.


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## podgeandrodge (8 Feb 2005)

*utv broadband*

It includes VAT by the way.


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