TalkTalk, the low-cost broadband, phone and TV provider, is raising the price of its basic TV offer this week, to both new and existing customers.
The price hike, which will come into effect on November 1, 2022, will affect TalkTalk’s Netgem 4K Box TV plan, where the price is going up from £4/month to £5/month.
TalkTalk’s newer Android TV Hub offer (see full details below) already costs £5/month, so will not be affected by the change.
New customers will pay the new price when they sign up after November 1, and existing customers will see the new price point in their next monthly billing.
Unlike TalkTalk’s broadband plans, which carry with them long-term contracts, TalkTalk’s TV contracts are on a 30-day rolling contract basis, therefore customers can cancel at any point.
The only caveat to this is TalkTalk’s Broadband + Netflix bundle, where you’re tied up to both the broadband and the Netflix part for the duration of the contract (usually 18 or 24 months). However, the price of this particular bundle is not going up at this point.
TalkTalk provides broadband and TV services to more than 4 million customers, focusing on internet connectivity and landline phones (though we don’t know how many of TalkTalk’s broadband customers are also subscribed to their TV add-on).
TalkTalk’s TV Offers Explained
Somewhat confusingly, TalkTalk currently has three separate TV offers, with two different boxes – one for “regular” (Fibre To The Cabinet) customers, and one for Full Fibre customers.
They all accompany the company’s broadband plans, so you can’t sign up for TalkTalk TV without being a TalkTalk Broadband customer.
TalkTalk TV Option 1: The Netgem Box
A year ago, TalkTalk launched a 4K TV box from Netgem, which replaced TalkTalk’s previous TV offer – a YouView box.
Netgem, a company based in France, has two operation models in the UK – customers can buy its Netgem Netbox 4K as a standalone Freeview box, with Netgem also signing contracts with broadband providers, to become their “TV Offer”.
The 4K Netgem box from TalkTalk includes a variety of streaming apps (including Amazon’s Prime Video, Netflix, BBC iPlayer and more), and – by connecting an aerial – can also be used as a Freeview box, with recordings only possible via an optional USB stick.
This is first and foremost a streaming box, so it needs to connect to your broadband via WiFi. Then, you can use its more than 40 streaming apps and on-demand players.
At launch, TalkTalk’s Netgem TV box used to cost £4/month – and, starting from November 1, will now cost £5/month.
Do note that you’re not getting any TV content subscriptions included in the price – so you’re basically paying for the box and its software.
On top of the box, however, TalkTalk offers its customers the option to add Sky’s NOW (formerly NOW TV) memberships – Entertainment (TV channels like Sky Atlantic) for £9.99/month, Sky Cinema for £9.99/month and Sky Sports for £33.99/month.
These are the same prices you would get as a standalone NOW customer, on any device.
However, TalkTalk is also throwing in NOW Boost at no extra cost, which adds Full HD (1080p) picture quality, Dolby Digital 5.1 support and the ability to stream on up to 3 devices.
TalkTalk TV Option 2: The Android TV Box
A few weeks ago, TalkTalk launched yet another TV box – the TalkTalk TV Hub which is a 4K / Dolby Atmos Android TV-powered box.
The Android TV Hub supports Freeview (when you connect an aerial), Freeview Play (via broadband), as well as thousands of apps that are currently available on the Google Play Store – from the big streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer and more – to smaller, niche apps and services.
Unlike the Netgem box, TalkTalk is only offering the Android TV Box to broadband customers with Full Fibre 150 and upwards – so it’s not available to all customers.
The new Android TV Box from TalkTalk was already £5/month at launch, with a one-off £25 setup fee, so this week’s price increase won’t affect it.
As with the Netgem box, do note that you’re not getting any content subscriptions included in the price – so you’re basically paying for the hardware.
However, until November 13, TalkTalk is also offering a £50 Google Play voucher for customers who order the Android TV Hub.
TalkTalk TV Option 3: Netflix + Broadband
Lastly, if you don’t need a TV box from TalkTalk (or even if you do, but want another bundle), the company launched a Netflix + Broadband Bundle last year.
It offers the company’s fibre broadband service along with a Standard Netflix subscription (which you can upgrade to Premium) – all under one bill, and at a small discount.
The bundle, which now requires a 24-month contract, is available with two of TalkTalk’s fibre products: Fibre65 (with an average speed of 67Mbs), and Fibre35 (With an average speed of 38Mbs).
Both packages include the Netflix Standard subscription, which on its own costs £10.99/month, and lets you watch on up to 2 screens at the same time, in Full HD (1080p).
The Fiber35 Netflix package costs, as of this writing, £32.95/month, and the Fibre65 Netflix package costs £33.95/month (both also include a one-time £4.95P+P charge).
You can upgrade to Netflix Premium, which includes 4K content, for an additional £5/month.
As of this writing, a regular (WITHOUT Netflix) Fibre35 package from TalkTalk costs £24/month on a 24-month contract, and the Fibre65 package is £25/month for 24 months.
Therefore, by signing up for the Broadband + Netflix bundle, you’re saving £2.04/month on either plan, compared to getting TalkTalk’s broadband and Netflix on their own.
Of course, as always with broadband, you might be able to find better deals from other companies – which will decrease your Netflix savings in this bundle.
BT, for example, is currently offering (until November 3) its 4K Pro TV box, along with Netflix Basic and Sky’s NOW Entertainment membership for £6/month – with three months of free BT Broadband.
I have been with TalkTalk for many years now, I upgraded to the fibre 150 a couple of years ago.
Owner installed the equipment first time, the 150 fibre is only to the cabinet and as such is not full fibre but I do get the advertised speed.
Hyperopic have had permission granted to build their system in my building which when installed will give me FFTTP and it will cost less that what TalkTalk charges,I am considering leaving TalkTalk because of a change to my broadband with calls package.
My package went from £ 20 to £ 22 and then this year it went up again to £25, TalkTalk told me it was making the change due to the other operators increasing the cost of phone calls.
My package is all inclusive including calls,TalkTalk pre-order themselves but saying that they will never increase you payment or change your contact during the contract period, my contact was set at 24 months ago the price should have been protected, not so as I now pay £ 3 more every month for calls which were supposed to be included in my original contract.
I will be cancelling at renewal because of this and found with hyperoptic.
The TalkTalk deals sound great but their service is abysmal. I’ve been a Onetel/TT customer for over twenty years. I agreed to an upgrade in March 22 . OpenReach did a great job in respect of the fibre installation, but TT sent the wrong router three times then accidentally cut off the full fibre and telephone. It is now November and despite being asked to reorder the cancel five times ( 5 times ) I am still waiting. I have received a ” welcome to fibre 150 with VoIP with 24 month contract FOUR TIME. Still no service.