Communications

How to stay in touch while you're in the UK.

Television
There are five terrestrial television channels in the UK BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channels 4 and 5 with certain regional variations.

If you use your TV, you must buy a TV licence (currently £126.50 a year). One licence covers all the TVs at a single address. It can be bought from the Post Office, or by calling TV licensing on 0870 240 1187.

To get more channels, you can subscribe to a digital, satellite or cable service. Several companies sell these packages, and choice will depend upon price, what channels they offer and what's available in your area.

Alternatively, you can purchase a set-top box which provides access to a range of digital channels without having to pay a yearly subscription.

Telephone
British Telecom (now BT) used to be the UK's national phone company and is still obliged by law to provide everyone with a telephone connection at an affordable price.

It's likely that your home will already have a BT connection, contact BT to get the line reconnected. However there's a huge choice of telephone services providers, it's worth shopping around for the best deal. Most telephone providers will charge you monthly fee for line rental and then charge you extra for the calls you make.

Mobile phones
There are two major types of mobile phone services:

Pre-pay (pay-as-you-go) where you buy a phone and a certain amount of credits.
Contract phones where you sign up for a period of time (usually a year) and pay a monthly tariff and receive a regular bill.

Again mobile phone tariffs and call charges can vary greatly so shop around to find the best deal.

Postal services
Letters, packages and parcels of all kinds can be sent through the UK's national postal service, called the Royal Mail. Prices vary according to the weight of the item, where the item is being sent and the type of delivery required.

First class delivery is faster than second class. A first-class stamp currently costs 30p, a second-class one, 21p. Private courier services are available for delivering urgent items.

Each address in Britain has a postcode. Using it will enable mail to get to its destination more efficiently. To find a postcode, log on to Royal Mail website and use the Postcode Finder.

Most places in the UK have a local post office. This is where you can purchase stamps and get packages weighed. The post office is also where you'll find application forms for passports, driving licences and TV licences.

Internet access
To get access to the Web you'll need to sign up with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). You connect to the Internet using either a dial-up' connection over your existing telephone line, or a faster always on' Broadband connection. Either way, you will be charged for the connection either per call you make, or at fixed monthly rate.

There are many ISPs and it pays to shop around.

Relevant Links
Ofcom
Ofcom regulates all of the UK's communication industries including television, radio and the internet.

BT
A leading provider of telephone services.

Royal Mail
The site gives extensive information on its services and those available at the Post Office.

The Barclays Group is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The content of this page is for information only and should not be relied upon

†Lines are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, except UK bank holidays. Calls may be monitored and recorded for training and security purposes. Calls from within the UK are charged at local rate. Calls from overseas are charged at standard rate.