Phone costs in Dublin

Sky is not cable and is via a satellite dish. You would have to check whether you are allowed to put up a Sky dish on the property. Some rentals do not allow it due to certain by-laws etc.

NTL cable should have most of the channels you want though.....

if you're getting a flat with ntl already installed, why not just stick with ntl..

Some people may prefer Sky (like me). NTL is ok but Sky offers alot more. Unfortunately, you don't always have a choice as #10 notes, which is a shame as for many utilities, you're stuck with what you have, hence the poor service.

You don't need a land line to have internet access in Dublin. I just left Dublin (about 5 blocks from the Beggar's Bush area) after spending 5 months there. I bought a meteor mobile phone and had no land line in my apartment. I also had internet access through something called "Ripwave" which was contracted through Irish Broadband. As I recall, I paid about 50 -75 Euro for the Ripwave Modem and that price included 4 months of internet service. I then paid about 18 Euro per month after my initial 4 months and had to sign a service contract for a minimum of 6 months. It worked very well and I had no problems with internet access at all during my stay. When I disconnected my service last month, I simply returned the Ripwave Modem to Irish Broadband and they disconnected my service.

Pat

You don't need a landline to get it, but if you want to get any sort of reliable speed (without having to remortgage the house to get it) you should get a landline.

If Smart are available in your local exchange there is no choice - they are head and shoulders ahead of eircom. They give 6MB for less than eircom charge for 2MB. If you can't get Smart, don't bother with the phone.

Ripwave is spectacularly bad - less than dial-up speeds, despite what they promise.

I agree with Newgrange that landline will give a more stable broadband and cheaper phone calls too. Smart are best, but other providers are a similar price, they just offer lower speeds, this speed may be adequate for your needs. See http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=259 for discussion. Good wireless based broadband services often require an aerial on the roof, which may not be possible. If you get an O2 mobile and want to call friends in Germany check out www.1call.ie.