Virgin Media Starter Bundle

This is the cheapest way to get a triple bundle of TV, broadband and phone from Virgin Media – the Starter Bundle gives you the most basic version of each service. Don’t be deterred by the word ‘basic’ – this may be an entry-level package but the features you get are quite advanced.

So what do you get? 75 channels of TV which come to you via a Virgin V HD box. This box is HD and 3D ready but it doesn’t have a hard drive so will not record programmes or allow you to pause and rewind live TV – for these features you need to pay £5 extra per month for a TiVo box. Assuming you don’t need these ‘PVR’ (or Personal Video Recorder) features and you are happy with 75 channels this bundle will suit you fine.

The broadband included has download speeds of up to 30Mb per second (as we said already, this is far from basic but is the minimum now offered by Virgin Media to new customers) and the Phone element is Talk Weekends, also known as Phone M, which gives you unlimited calls to UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers all weekend.

Details of the Virgin Media Starter Bundle package

TV

The 75 TV channels consist of the basic Freeview channels you would expect (BBC, ITV etc) and a decent selection of extras with 6 channels in HD - get full details here on the Virgin TV M+ page. You also get access to Catch Up TV like the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand Five, which lets you watch the best of the last 7 days TV at your leisure. On Demand TV in the M+ package includes around 1500 hours of content from some of the channels included in the package such as Sky Living, Sky Arts 1 and the Discovery Channel.

The V HD box itself is HD and 3D ready (there is some 3D content available on demand on Virgin) but you need an HD TV to get the benefit of HD channels. You can't record programmes with this box as it has no storage memory but you can access Catch Up TV - the difference being you can't record a programme to watch later but if you miss a programme that is available on Catch Up (not all programmes are) you will be able to go back and watch it for 7 days afterwards.

Broadband

Virgin Broadband

The starter size of broadband from Virgin used to be 10Mb but is now 30Mb, which is faster than a lot of competitors' higher speed services. You get the Virgin Media Super Hub included for wireless and some free internet security too - more details on the 30Mb Broadband page here.

Phone

The Phone M service, or Talk Weekends, included in this bundle gives you unlimited weekend calls to UK landline numbers and Virgin Mobile numbers at weekends. Non-geographical numbers like 0845 and 0870 are not counted as landline and are chargeable, so be sure to read the call charges carefully if you use these numbers. Line rental of £13.90 a month must be taken for this bundle.

Included in the Bundle

  • Virgin TV M+ - this package consists of 75 channels including Sky1, Sky LIVING and Discovery
  • Virgin Phone M - unlimited UK weekend calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers and Virgin Mobiles
  • Virgin Broadband L - Up to 30Mb speed, unlimited downloads, free wireless router