I'm with NTL for phone, TV and internet.

I'm on the old dial up internet connection - waiting for Broadband and that sucks!

However the TV and phone seems reasonable and works ok for me

In our old house we had NTL cable TV. We were there a year and despite being told when we signed up that in a couple of months' time we would be able to get pay per view movies, a cable phone and therefore NTL internet access, none of these things materialised.

Surprisingly, when we moved we got Sky digital Never had many problems with that.

It depends where you live as well - when my brother and his flatmate moved into their current place they got permission from the landlord to have cable installed - only to be told that ntl didn't offer cable services in their area (despite the manhole outside the front door with 'NTL' written on it!!) So you may find you have no choice anyway.

Sky TV is fantastic!

As for BT, I've never had a problem with the phoneline (touch wood), but I would avoid them as an isp.

Yeah, Sky television is the better one to go with viewing wise. BT as an ISP generally suck. Although if you go to NTL and are fortunate enough to get the broadband connection thrown in with your package then I would go with that. Depending on certain setups, it is sometimes possible to have your broadband access through the set top box. So it's horses for courses really.

Do you have Telewest/Blueyonder where your living?

Thats always another option

Problem is that both Telewest and NTL are essentially hodgepodge collections of different networks - they basically bought up all the old cable franchises (Videotron et al) which all have different levels of infrastructure in each area so you really need to ask NTL very carefully what is available in your area.

Broadband is a truly wonderful thing. If NTL can offer it in your area, take it! However, like microwaves and mobiles, once you've tried it, there's no going back. A while back, my router blew and it took a few days before it was replaced. Going back to modems was majorly traumatic.

Anyway, I'd also second avoiding BT as an ISP. While my ADSL link ultimately comes from BT Ignite, my ISP is Direct Connection rather than BT Openworld, about whom I seldom hear a kind word...