Vodafone UK’s new TV service goes live for broadband and mobile users
Broadband and mobile customers of Vodafone UK may like to know that the telecoms provider has today made their new pay TV product available to take, which is said to be priced from an additional £10 a month, or subscribers can get their ‘TV Essential‘ plan – including Netflix and HBO Max – for £17 a month.
The new pay TV solution was first soft launched a month ago (here), but at the time they didn’t reveal much about its pricing or a precise launch date, which changes today. The new service is being centred around a small plug-in Android-based hub (set-top-box), which is made by ZTE (ZXV10 B866V6N4 VF / VTV4 Mini) and based off Android TV v14 – featuring an Amlogic S905X5M system-on-chip, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
The set-top-box will harness Netgem’s PLEIO IPTV platform (here), albeit via Vodafone’s own choice of hardware and content line-up. The original announcement made clear that this will support the new Freely TV platform, an additional 150+ live TV channels, 300+ games and thousands more content Apps through the Google Play Store. The box also supports 4K (Ultra HD), Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio.
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All of this is being supported by a companion app for your Smartphone, which means that viewers can start a programme at home and continue it outside of the home. The app mirrors profiles, recommendations, favourites and gameplay across devices to hopefully create a seamless entertainment experience.
For customers switching to Vodafone TV and broadband as a bundle, the provider will also credit their account with up to £300 towards early leaving fees. In addition, until 28 October 2026, new Vodafone Pro Broadband customers can get Vodafone TV Essential included at no extra cost for the first 24 months.
Vodafone TV Plans
Vodafone TV: (TV standalone) – £10 per month
Vodafone TV Essential: (TV + Netflix + HBO Max) – £17 per month
Mobile customers can also combine existing Vodafone Entertainment plans (Disney+ or Prime) together with Vodafone TV Essential (TV + Netflix + HBO Max) to create Vodafone TV Ultimate – £25.50 per month. In addition, for Vodafone Together customers – the brand’s multi‑plan family offering – the savings grow. Anyone with an existing Pay Monthly mobile line can add Pro Broadband and TV with an additional £4 monthly saving, bringing the total for Pro Broadband + Vodafone TV Essential to £35 per month.
Rob Winterschladen, Consumer Director at VodafoneThree, said:
“Households are dealing with a TV set‑up that’s become far too complicated – juggling multiple apps, long channel bundles and services they often don’t use. Our research shows that more than a third of people haven’t changed their TV provider in the last five years, with the perceived hassle of switching a big blocker and, as a result, they are still paying for features that should be standard.
Vodafone TV gives customers a smarter alternative: one simple, intuitive experience that brings their favourite entertainment together and helps them cut out unnecessary costs. With Netflix and HBO Max included for £17 per month, it delivers exceptional value from day one.”
In short, Vodafone TV is now available to buy directly from Vodafone and in Currys stores nationwide. The platform also includes Vodafone Box Office, which lets customers rent or buy the latest films. The big challenge for the operator is that they seem to be entering the pay TV market after others have scaled-back (e.g. TalkTalk) or even abandoned (e.g. Plusnet) their own TV services.
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Time will tell how this goes for Vodafone, but unlike in the past it no longer takes a huge investment to pull something like this off, which means the provider won’t be left significantly exposed if their new product doesn’t work out.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Will this give the customers their own login for Netflix and HBO? I don’t need the Vodafone TV, but £17 a month is not bad for Netflix and HBO.
You do, yes. After purchasing you get access to a portal where you can either create both your Netflix and HBO accounts, or convert your existing accounts over to Vodafone if you already have them.
The 1.6gb plan means this is literally free as they include the tv at no extra cost honestly one of the better deals I e seen compare to most where bb is usually £30 before any extras
Netflix Standard & HBO standalone is £14 ish so for £3-4 extra you are getting the box ?
This is an aggressive move by Vodafone into what I call the Pay TV Light market, meaning not ‘heavy’ as provided by Sky and Virgin Media but for those who want live TV channels plus VoD without paying premium prices. There is competition, of course, from BT/EE TV, TalkTalk TV, Manhattan Aero and Netgem PLEIO, but Vodafone’s offering is different in a number of ways.
1. This is a Freely box which BT/EE TV and TalkTalk TV don’t have (and in all likelihood never will have IMHO).
2. This is a Freely box from a national operator, a more compelling product than offered by small ISPs or direct from Manhattan or Netgem.
3. Vodafone offers Vodafone TV to its mobile customers, unique in the Pay TV market – and VodafoneThree has millions of contract customers. (It must be said, though, that Vodafone’s 5G FWA is much better for this streaming than 4G, and you’ll get 5G FWA in areas where Vodafone has spare capacity.) The companion app is unique as well as it transforms the hub from a static living-room device into a cross-device mobile platform.
4. The basic price of £10pm (with an extra £7pm adding Netflix Standard with Ads and HBO Max Standard with Ads) plus up to £300 for those switching to Vodafone makes it a lot easier to attract and retain customers.
Not sure if it is good value for money when the Netgem PLEIO is £99 with a 12 month subscription for channels and games.
It depends on the channels Vodafone offer, they say 150+ live TV channels, I bet about 1% of those channels if that are worth bothering with.
The ISP/network provider I am with have a TV service, it is Netgem PLEIO and that looks just as bad as Vodafones offering.
Myself, I think ISPs should just do one thing, supply broadband
Anyone with a brain has a streaming box (firestick, apple tv etc). Paid for TV packages are dying off and will be obsolete in the next 20 years.
I’m struggling to understand what will I be getting if I went for the £10 package. According to the image above, it’s just Freely channels, the iPlayer, ITV hub, and Channel 4 and Channel 5 apps. Is there anything else? Because all of the above services are free.
Since it’s through PLEIO it’s probably the same line up they have on their paid service.
https://pleio-tv.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/30292250503453-What-is-Channels