Introduction
We have found that dealing with communication companies in the UK are far easier than in South Africa.
Don't forget - use our low cost international calls to phone friends and family back home see
cheap calls to South Africa for more information.
Mobile Phones
The first major difference is that they are not 'cell phones' but are called 'mobiles'The trick is to shop around! It’s always important to find out what the best deals are. The quickest way to get connected is to buy a pre-paid package as there are no credit checks or deposits to pay. The calls are inexpensive compared to South Africa and the pre-paid vouchers do not expire.
Telephones
BT is the major provider of telephones in the UK however unlike South Africa there are other competitors. As the competition is high, we have found that the service is good from all of them. To order a phone from BT, you can do it over the phone (neat!). Give BT a call on 150 on any land line and simply give them your details and they will hook you up very quickly.
In the UK they are very big on package deals. BT offer a number of calling discounts depending on what your needs are. We suggest you take the Country package for South Africa as this can give you discounts up to 15% on calls to SA. This adds up when paying 75p a minute. Alternately get hold of one of the low cost callers and subscribe to their service and phone SA for just 10p a minute!
Post
The next step would be to go to the Post Office and find yourself a local telephone directory (Thomson Local) and buy yourself some stamps.
Every thing here is done by post - you can safely post something (cheques for rent etc) and you know it will get there the next day!
Internet
If you have access to a PC then we would suggest that you sign up with one of the service providers in the UK as quick as possible. Most phone companies now offer broadband as part of the phone deal. So sign-up and get connected! In the first 6 months of us being in the UK we managed to send over 1,000 messages and received over 5,000 back.
TV and TV Licenses
You have to have a TV license by law. If you are caught without one (and the chances are good) you can get a fine up to £2,000. You can get the forms from the post office and can either pay for it up front or in installments. The cost is about £120 a year.
The good thing about a TV license is that on BBC 1 and BBC 2 there are no adverts! The quality of programming is also excellent.
If you want satellite TV then you have two choices. You can either have it through a digital TV dish with Sky or through your normal aerial with On-digital. This can cost between £6 and £35 a month depending on what you subscribe to.
The best news however is that the decoders are given away for free - all you do is go to your nearest electrical store and pick up your decoder. Each company has different sets of rules regarding how long you need to have a contact for etc so check in store for details.
