NTL to abandon analogue in 2 weeks?

LegacyUser

Got this from bringbackeurosport.com:

"NTL Ireland to upgrade all analog customers to digital for free! - Tuesday, April 22, 2003
According to an NTL customer support person this morning NTL Ireland are to upgrade all existing analogue-only customers to digital for free "within the next two weeks". The analogue service will be shut down at the same time. The person told us that letters stating this had been sent out to all effected customers "a few weeks ago". It was unclear from the explanation what extra charges, if any, upgraded customers will have to pay.

The upgrade will require NTL service personnel to visit each analogue-only customer to install the digital decoder. It is not clear how this can be completed within the next two weeks, when, according to what we were told today, the analogue service will be switched off.

We at BringBackEurosport would like to hear from any NTL Ireland customer who has analogue-only service. Did you receive notification of this major change to NTL's service? NTL's own website contains no information about it, and it is not mentioned in any of their press releases.

The same customer support person also confirmed that NTL Ireland have dropped CNBC from their analogue service. This is the channel that replaced Eurosport in February 2002, with the claim from NTL that Irish viewers wanted it. Not only has CNBC's absence gone almost unnoticed by anyone, but its slot on the analogue service has not been filled. This means that at the moment NTL analogue-only customers are paying for 15 channels but only receiving 14. NTL's Irish website still lists CNBC as one of the 15 channels in its basic pack."

Surely there's some mistake? Aren't NTL bound by ComReg to supply an analogue service until 2010 or something like that?

spongebob

they have to turn Digital Services ON first for their MMDS customers who are all still on Analogue , I trust you refer to cable Buckfast

BrianD

I'm an analogue customer and it's the first I've heard og it. Nothing in the last bill that indicated a change. If they can persuade the masses to change it would be a shrewd move to fend off Sky. As stated elsewhere on the board, most people just want the terrestrials and anything else is a bonus. I've never heard anybody say that they are delighted they got Sky because of such and such a channel.

I was wondering where CNBC had gone to. Good riddance I say but a bit sneaky of NTL not to clearly indicate that it was no longer available. The only reason I went looking for CNBC was to see how fascist their view of the Iraq conflict would be!!

colinsky

Originally posted by Buckfast
The person told us that letters stating this had been sent out to all effected customers "a few weeks ago".

I am an analogue-only customer (no box) and have not received any such letter.

Then again, I've never been contacted by NTL other than getting a bill. It would be really nice for them to actually provide information to customers -- for instance, "We are showing sporting events at these three times this month; during these events the frequency used by CNBC will be scrambled". Stuff that affects customers and thus they should be informed about.

Ro

I doubt ntl have 375,000 digital receivers - never mind the ability to distribute them all in two weeks. Maybe they just meant the Tallaght area?

colinsky

Incidentally, I DO watch CNBC (as recently as last night!) and I haven't noticed it having disappeared.

I have a feeling these "bring back eurosport" people are making up rumors to try to scare people.

icdg

Originally posted by Buckfast


The same customer support person also confirmed that NTL Ireland have dropped CNBC from their analogue service.

Absolute rubbish - I was watching CNBC Europe Squawk Box via analogue this very morning...

And dropping the analogue service would be a breach of their Cable TV (1999) Licences:

4. (1) The licensee shall distribute such licensed programme services as are specified in
Part VI and VII by analogue transmission:
(a) unless the Director gives prior consent in writing; or
(b) unless the Director directs the licensee, by notice in writing served on the
licensee, to discontinue analogue transmission of such of those licensed
programme services as are specified in the notice.

Plus never mind that a decision this big would be WELL publicised.

dougal

My Oul Fella told me he got a letter from NTL saying he would have to switch to Digital if he wanted to keep Sky Sports!!!

GerardKeating

"NTL to abandon analogue in 2 weeks? "

This applies to custumer with "Premium chanells" like Movies and Sports..



gerard

icdg

Announced weeks ago...

http://www.iolfree.ie/~icdg/news_020403.htm

That would be a more likely explaination...

seamus

I can see them losing even more hordes of customers to Sky Digital over this....
My house is analogue and hasn't been upgraded. If I had Sky Sports, how would they expect me to 'Go Digital'?

LegacyUser

Originally posted by icdg
Absolute rubbish - I was watching CNBC Europe Squawk Box via analogue this very morning...

Not on MMDS in Galway you weren't. I was talking to a work colleague who has MMDS in County Galway a while ago, and he said he received a letter from NTL about a month ago saying they were upgrading the system, and there may be some temporary faults with certain channels.

For the past week or so, CNBC is off, as is Sky Sports 3 (to which he subscribes), which has been replaced by Sky Premier (scrambled). They added they would be providing a new digital set-top box for him, but gave no indication when ir what charges would be involved.

The post I quoted from www.bringbackeurosport.com must refer to MMDS as opposed to cable analogue customers.

spongebob

There is no such thing as digital MMDS in Galway. It will be launched by June .....allegedly.

watty

NTL and Chorus can get Comreg dispensation to drop a service if it is adequately replaced by an Alternate service. I'm sure I heard that Chorus has closed cable a few places (Tipp Town?) on basis of updated MMDS.

If Chorus updated all analog MMDS customers to digital (more likely than NTL who have hardly started Digital MMDS rollout), they could easily get permission to close Analog MMDS (which is rubbish anyway, esp the Jerrold boxes meant for USA Cable NTSC descrambling).

If Analog MMDS is closed in an area the Digital MMDS can then be 120+ channels rather than 60+ Channels.


NTL has been in breach for NOT rolling out Digital on cable and MMDS...

Unlikely that in many places they are close to a complete Digital roll out. If they were, getting Analog closed would not be a problem. Much easier than closing UK terrestrial TV analog which now loks unlikely to happen. (or inside 20years anyway).

icdg

Originally posted by Buckfast
Not on MMDS in Galway you weren't

Yes, but on Cable in Dublin I was!

As for thinking that the site you refer to is reffering to analogue MMDS customers - well not only does the site in question not mention the platform (merely NTL), but NTL do not have a single digital MMDS customer to my knowledge. In any of their franchises.

Whybother

NTL have started to upgrade MMDS customers to Digital in Dublin.
I rang to confirm (for ever and ever) I was told a free upgrade is available for existing customers.

ozmo1

The father-in-law got one of these letters (Dublin).
Says he had to upgrade or loose Sky Sports.

So he upgraded (free upgrade) but now has to pay
aprox 15 euros extra for the service per month
:eek:
Sky sports only - no movie channels.

ozmo

BrianD

This story was in the Irish Times today (Friday). The only people getting an upgrade are MMDS customers in Dublin and Waterford. This is to comply with a ComReg directive to upgrade the service or lose the licences.

Cable customers will have to pay to upgrade for the moment.

icdg

Indeed, the story in The Irish Times Business This Week this morning makes a lot more sense, and explains things.

NTL only have 20,000 analogue customers for MMDS. It will be a lot easier to upgrade them all to digital (and it will be done over twelve months). After this, they will cease analogue MMDS.

The price for digital MMDS will be the same for analogue MMDS, EUR 19. But as NTL MMDS viewers will have their analogue STBs taken away, they will have no analogue service. This is unlike Digital Cable viewers who retain analogue cable (no STB anyway). There will be no Multi-Room Viewing for these people.

Now if any Multilink viewer wants to post here what they have been told?

watty

ICDG makes perfect sense.

NTL have incurred wrath continually regarding lack of any Digital MMDS rollout (I think they hoped to sell it so put it off).

OTDR as was then gave an ultimatum.

It makes no real sense to run Analog and Digital MMDS as unlike cable you can't fit a basic analog service on a different part of spectrum.

Multiroom as long as you watch the same channel

Are they using the same coding / protocol etc Sagem boxes as Chorus?

Once ITV and BBC is free via satellite, Chorus Digital MMDS might have to compete by increasing size of package (120+ instead of 60+ channels) and so Chorus Analog MMDS will turn off too. With the poor quality and lack of channels, analog MMDS is of doubtfull value. It was badly speced in beginning, a clack handed job.

mike65

Can the MMDS frequencies be used for something else
more useful like wireless broadband...?

Mike.

spongebob

Originally posted by mike65
Can the MMDS frequencies be used for something else
more useful like wireless broadband...?

Mike.

Yes. The roadmap for the MMDS band around 2.5Ghz and 2.6Ghz is being settled on a pan european basis (the FCC does this for the US) . Funnily enuff the Europeans don't envisage running TV services over it. Have a look Here to see what is envisaged (2Mb PDF Page 91) around 2500 and 2600 Mhz, the MMDS frequencies .

Comreg is the implementation body for the ERO in Ireland but they have some leeway in respect of legacy systems. It strikes me that officially they will have to close MMDS down completely in 5 years and to reallocate the bandwidth to 3G mobile. I suspect that 3G mobile will not need the frequencies in 2008 and am probably not the only one who thinks so.

Watty could well have a more interesting angle on this I have no doubt

watty

I get a Trade Telecomms magasine...

There is a developing feeling that the future is a combination of GSM, public Wireless LAN and GPRS. The operators are begining to think 3G is too expensive and delivers too little.

It is little better than GPRS for the apps used on it.

It can't ever do Internet or Video sensibly and certinally not as cheap or fast as Wireless Lan (now 2M, 11M, 22M and 56M bit versions).

Faster wireless LAN uses 5 to 6GHz band.
Slower (up to 22M) wireless LAN uses 2.4 to 2.45GHz.

I don't think 3G or WiFi operators will be wanting the 2.5G band..


I do think DTT (digital Terrestrial) on UHF is a mistake. It now seems evident that UHF analog TV may never be turned off as DTT simply will NEVER deliver the coverage or work to portable TV.

Analog MMDS should NEVER have started. Digital MMDs was ALREADY available at the time analog MMDS was setup. At very least Analog MMDS should have been FM, not AM video. It was a rushed shoe string budget kludge.

MMDS should be Digital only, better engineered and with 30 free channels and users able to buy a non-subscription box.

UHF DTT can only do 30 odd channels. Digital MMDS can do 120 channels and if band expanded upward slightly, nearly 200 Channels. A viable terrestrial alternative to Sky/Satellite outside of cities. Cable in cities should be just a "piped" version of it fed from MMDS aerials at each block so hardly anyone suffers if a vandal cuts the cable TV cable.

It should also have a non-subscribe box / free 30 channels with just a basic "line connection" rental of about 10 Euro p.m. With options available for anyone of broadband (mandatory provision) at about 20 euro a month or phone calls simply at amount used (you already pay cable rental).

Cable without phone and broadband is a shamefull waste of copper.