LOVEFiLM Instant will shortly become Amazon Prime Instant Video and customers can soak up unlimited streaming of more than 15,000 Movies & TV episodes and access to 500,000 books via the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. How much is this going to cost you? From 26th February the price will be £79 for 12 months, which works out just a little more expensive than Netflix.

However if you are smart you can pick up a Amazon Prime Membership right now for £49 for your first year, so for just over £4 a month, you will be able to reap all of the benefits including free delivery, no matter how much you are spending at Amazon.

For me this reinforces my opinion that physical media really is almost dead and buried but if you play the game wisely you could enjoy everything Amazon Prime has to offer and throw in Netflix too, all for just over £10 a month for a whole year, which makes think “Do I really need a £50+ a month Cable or Satellite subscription?”

With rising prices and poor customer service levels, more and more people will be tempted to cut the cord and consider dropping their traditional TV service. Maybe this is why so many TV providers try and lock you into 18 month contracts with their own broadband services. One thing for sure is check that you have a truly unlimited connection and read the terms and conditions as some internet providers are starting to throttle data usage.

With the average house now rapidly becoming littered with laptops, smartphones, tablets, Smart TV’s and games consoles that will download one game at over 40gb in one sitting, not to mention the growing number of streaming options with Spotify and Netflix, your internet connection is quickly becoming the most important utility in your home.

Personally I think having 300 channels of utter garbage and adverts at your disposal for over £50 a month, when the reality is we all probably watch the same Freeview HD channels more than anything else, shows what an outdated business model this really is. For just over £10 a month, I could have both Netflix and Amazon Prime with the freedom to watch what I want and when I want without annoying adverts. Let’s be honest even fast forwarding adverts is a chore in an age where we expect everything straight away.

In the end, it will be your lifestyle that will determine if Amazon Prime is a right fit for you. If you’re an avid shopper who even occasionally opts for expedited shipping, or frequent purveyor of streaming media content, then Amazon Prime is quite simply a no brainer for your home if you can snap it up now for the rather affordable £49 for 12 months.