Houses in the UK have never been as plugged-in to global communications as they are today.

 

Satellite dishes beam images from around the world, fibre optic cables run below our streets sending high-speed broadband internet and cable television into our homes. More and more people are spending their spare time online engaged in on-line discussions games or simply making free telephone calls to relatives all over the world.

There has never been such a huge amount of information being transferred around the world before and the UK is at the forefront of this new technology.

Switch to Digital

A lot of this has to do with the British Government’s decision to switch off the old analogue TV signal that has been beaming the nation’s favourite TV shows into British houses since the 1940s. The process began in Whitehaven, Lancashire, in 2007 and by 2012 the entire UK will only be able to watch TV through a digital receiver.

This drastic decision has been taken in order to use the old analogue TV signal to beam even more digital TV signals around the country, so expect to see some real advances in mobile TV technology over the next couple of years.

All of this means that you can now get home media packages from various different companies that will provide you with digital TV, broadband internet and telephone line all for one monthly payment.

Service Providers

To get the benefit of all these things you need to know where to look. There are various companies which offer services that provide you with access to mass multimedia in one package. So you can get your digital TV service, broadband connection and phone line from the same place.

Note- hidden cost: Many suppliers require you to have an existing phone line. To have a line installed would cost approximately  £125 (valid sommer  2010). Some companies don’t require a phone line, but you have to check if their service is available in your area.

Listed here are some example costs and packages (valid autum 2010). See our internet page for an explanation of download speeds.

Example 1:

£28 a month for:

-           Up to 10Mb broadband

-           Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines

-           Digital TV package (over 65 digital channels)

-           Mobil: 100 minutes and 500 text messages free

 

Example 2:

£15.99 a month for:

-           up to 20Mb broadband
-           10 Gb download allowance per month

-            free set up

-            contract length 12months

-            free wireless router

 

You can order TV on demand (add from £ 7,50 a month)– which means you can watch programmes when you choose to from a huge list. However, this package does not include international calls.

Example 3:

£35.00 a month for:

-           up to 7,2 Mb broadband – unlimited downloads
-           FreeUSB Stick and Laptop
-           3 Gb download allowance per month

-           contract length 24 month

This is a more expensive option, but in return you get a Laptop.

Don’t be fooled: Some companies offer ‘free’ broadband. However, once you have paid the subscription for the satellite TV and the line rental, the overall cost is more than the above packages.

Once you have TV, broadband and a phone in your home, you can start to get all the benefits! But whichever one you choose, you do not have to just watch or listen to what comes with the channels you receive. With your connection to the internet you can also rent, or download, specific titles that you want to watch or hear.

By John Hillman & Matt Taylor

 

To be listed here click

 

USEFUL WORDS

satellite dish = a piece of equipment that receives signals from a satellite, used to watch television
fibre optic cable = a cable which uses thin fibres of glass to send information in the form of light signals
engage in a discussion = talk to somebody
advances in technology = progress or developments in technology
package = a set of items that must be bought together
a good deal = cheap
good value = cheap, but good quality for the price
install = to fix equipment into position so that it can be used
on demand = done or happening whenever somebody asks
flaws = mistakes in something that mean that it is not correct or does not work properly
benefits = advantages

ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Short forms of have and have got

With have on its own, we prefer full forms to short forms:
Present Simple
I have a satellite dish
I’ve a satellite dish (infrequent)

Past Simple
I had a satellite dish
I’d a satellite dish (infrequent)

Before got we can use the short forms ‘ve, ‘s or ‘d:
Present Simple
I have got a satellite dish
I’ve got a satellite dish

Past Simple
I had got a satellite dish
I’d got a satellite dish

 

Note:
In very informal speech, you may hear got without have:
I got a new TV (= I’ve got a new TV)
You got satellite TV? (= have you got satellite TV?)

 

TIP:
Say I’ve got… for the present
Say I had… for the past