NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Check here as it seems to be much faster than the Independent's own site: http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache...roadcast&hl=en

I'm really beginning to get confused by Ofcom now. In my opinion they are over-regulating BT to the detriment of the UK consumer, and now with big investments incoming they again see fit to want to 'increase competition' again at the detriment of the UK consumer.

What exactly are OfCom thinking, and shouldn't they be considering looking after us poor schmuck consumers in between obsessing about making every market imaginable as competitive as possible, which while I'm sure it will benefit niches is ultimately not going to be beneficial to consumers of products in the short term.

Lights are on and they are certainly busy in OfCom central, just seems to be a shame that they have forgotten they are supposed to be improving competition to enhance consumer experience, not just improving competition wherever they see the need, regardless of the effect on the consumer (in this case both giving a disincentive to companies to invest prior to the analogue switchoff, and harming the ntl group by devaluing an asset which harms the ntl group that would be left as a business / residential telecomms and television provider making them less competitive to big bad BT).

Shouldn't OfCom perhaps consider encouraging competition through incentives to other companies to compete, rather than constant disincentives to the larger players, especially when these are the players they expect to spend the billions on enhancing services.

Still on the upside this might have the wonderful side effect of making higher prices for terrestrial TV services necessary, as if we don't already pay through the nose for most things. :(

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Don't these competetion watchdogs realise that some times the industry can't sustain lots of companies.

You only have to look at what happened in the cable industry and the upcoming merger to see that.

What do ofcom suggest, "mast unbundling" ?? letting other broadcasters use the ntl and crowncastle masts.

It's not likely is it? There's no complaints from any of the broadcasters is there? They're just meddling for meddlingsake to justify their own existence.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

How do you unbundle a mast. There is only a certain number of frequencies and pattern of frequencies availiable, the fact this is "broadcast", not narrowcast means you want a provider that covers a broad area, not a narrow one. The BBC can broadcast to the whole of the UK and parts of europe by uplinking to the Sky Sat, do they really want to negotiate 30 different contracts with 30 different broadcast mast providers. Crazy.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Good on you Carter. :D

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Yet OFCOM fail to ever take note of the monopoly that is Sky...........and that is still churning away a full speed and still getting away with it.

I dont see why Sky Should be allowed to advertise their service using channels provided by Disney and UKTV should they not have to point out that these services are also available on other platforms like Cable. To the unsuspecting idiot, Digital TV is Sky, my friend still come round to watch the football on 'Sky' despite the fact I moved to cable 2 years ago!!

And Interactive services, why are they witheld even though we pay the same amount, sureley if we are missing out on some services wholesale costs should be less and we should pay less.

Madness........OFCOM are a waste of space, always tackling issues that dont really matter, sometimes they go too far and ignore the real problems.

I think for one, BT are treated terribly by OFCOM and this makes them less likely to push new technologies as it will be judged anti competative.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Is Sky any more of a monopoly than NTL or Telewest or are the cablecos more monopolistic? Theoretically anyone can rent a transponder on Astra and broadcast to the same customer base as Sky and be accessable to anyone with satellite receiving equipment. The same cannot be said for cable as they must have the cablecos agreement to use their networks.

Channel providers decide what should appear on their channel and who can advertise on them, not Sky. Are you saying that Sky should pay for adverts which also advertise their competitors.

I don't think that you should be going round calling your friends idiots because they come to your house to watch football on Sky. It probably was on Sky Sports anyway. :D

Back to the question of NTL Broadcast. Couldn't some of the broadcast masts be used to provide wireless internet access. Maybe the downstream path could be supplied by satellite with the user having a NTL digibox as part of the receiving hardware with a NTL smartcard for TV reception.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

He's (We're ) not talking the advertising shown on the channel, but the current bombardment from posters, TV, radio, falling out of the newspaper inserts that Sky are subjecting us too.

e.g Picture of Bert and Ernie or Bear with Sky can be educational for kids. In this instance Sky is using the Playhouse Disney channel to advertise it's product. What the advert does not say is that there are alternate means of getting the Playhouse Disney Channel (there must be other examples, but being as this is a channel watched regularly in my house this one springs to mind).

Whilst you have a valid point on the the mates coming round, Sky have cleverly fused the broadcast medium and the product, people think you need sky to watch sky, a myth that sky are obviously happy to perpetuate. Imagine if BBC started advertising that to watch all their channels the only thing you could do was get a freeview box (when you could get Sky, NTL or TW) imagine the outrage from Sky that they were using public money to advertise and not properly highlighting the alternative methods of getting their product.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

If your company were bidding for a major contract with a company which then got OfCom'd and that contract was cancelled, with the result possible loss in jobs including yours, I doubt you'd hold that same attitude. OfCom seem intent on trying to break up the natural monopoly industries while the services they provide are driven straight into the ground.

This isn't a personal thing for your amusement people's jobs could be threatened over this if ntl and Crown Castle are forced to spend a load of money so that others can take their business off them.

Glad that entertains you so much. Personally I think it's horrid, and no doubt any ntl:Broadcast people who may have their careers threatened if Ofcom decide to chop into the margins of a future owner or ntl:Broadcast themselves wouldn't be overly amused either.

Here's hoping that your company after however many decades for christ's sake of operating as they are aren't large enough to get the attention of this regulator incase they feel the need to make some work for themselves by deciding you need extra competition, oh and expecting you to pay to make it possible, along with massive CapEx on new digital platforms.

Summary, that was a petty, inconsiderate and overall crappy thing to say. Hopefully you'll have a think about all the people whose job losses you ranted about and remember how they felt, this decision could quite easily arrange for more people to be joining them. I'm happy you're happy about it.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

I would imagine that Disney would be just as happy to see NTL and Telewest advertising in the same way. If either of these did that they probably wouldn't want to put "also available on Sky" in their advert. :D

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

None of them would want to, but BT (as the principal supplier of the last mile / phone services) have to point out that other BB service providers are available when they advertise, why should sky (as the principle supplier of pay tv services) not have to point out other pay tv services are available? This is the sort of thing that OFCOM should be doing. Maybe OFCOM should set up a pay tv helpline that customers could call to see what options ther are in their area, Sky, NTL/TW, Homechoice, could do the same for BB etc. Now that would be a way of educating the consumer in their choices.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

As far as I see it, Sky have a relatively small number of channels of their own, an EPG that makes viewing of all the channels that subscribe to it easy and a digibox sale, repair and installation service. They rely on other companies to provide the bulk of the channels available on their EPG. They rely on other companies to provide the satellites that carry the channels and on other companies, noticeably NTL, to provide the uplink to those satellites and other broadcasting services.

AFAIK anyone can can perform all of the things that Sky does without Sky being involved at all other than to allow its own channels to be received. This puts Sky in a different position to BT as BT own the last mile which is needed for ADSL reception. Sky do not own anything that is essential to provide a satellite reception service.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

But sky do make it exceptionally difficult to carry their channels, and if you were to attempt to set up a rival sat tv based service I'm pretty sure that they would make life incredibly difficult for you. NTL even charged separately for Sky One until a few years ago.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

This is mainly because the cable cos built their networks.........Sky didnt, they just rent space despite the original terms of UK Satellite broadcast which specified that the Service provider must use DMAC and their own Satellites both of which Sky got away with............but not BSB.........a long time ago but why........Rupert?!?

The Cable Cos arent strictly a monopoly, the technology has been available for DSL TV since DSL has been available, although LLU makes this a much more likely event, this means anyone can compete offering tripple play.

Another Satellite Broadcaster could start but would they stand a chance? or would they go down the pan like BSB or ITV Digital. The latter I think, a lot of Sky success is due to Ruperts Influence on those in high places, people arent going to complain! wholesale products from Sky are extortionate, any Broadcasting Alternative starting out will need these channels to get subscribers, they cant afford to outbid Sky, even Granada/Carlton screwed themselves trying to outbid Sky. There is absolutely no profit margin in having Sky Products on your platfrorm so no room for profitability.

I think Sky should point out (in small print if necessary) that the services such as Disney Channel are available elsewhere joe public is not all that bright in many cases, an advert for Disney Channel will automatically make them get Sky because they will think Sky is the only way to get it.........wrong.

My friend is mis informed (in a lot of cases) I always rib him about it and he doesnt care ;) , It may well be on Sky Sports or Prem+ but he says hes watching it on Sky (if he said Sky Sports then id accept it), which it isnt its Cable or ntl to be precise.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

I am sure that is the case but it makes you wonder why no other company, particularly the cablecos, has introduced a satellite viewing service.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

OffNet TV, interesting concept. They have jumped on it for offnet BB (well NTL are offering it), perhaps it is because of the regulation of BT/Offcom vs Sky/OffCom. Potentially NTL could do a homechoice style product NTLChoice and offer TV/Phone/BB/VOD to offnet customers.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Presumably it would cost more to run, than it would pull in. And does Satellite really have a long future.........or is IP the future? Certainally in many countries Cable is the preferred reception medium.

I think the Cable cos would rather invest in trying to find a 'killer' product, that will tempt people over to them, or tap into a previously untapped market perhaps VOD?

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

The whole point of my comment is that I stated when Carter left ntl, he would find some way of sticking the knife in when he could. It was well known that there was no love loss during his last few months with the company.

I would have a smile if certain "jobs for the boys" type managers and the ones who treat employees badly were to get their just deserve.

I think this is another case of sopmeone jumping to a conclusion about my thread, and making the assumption that I think every ntl employee should lose their job.

Please feel free to post any of my previous posts (complete post) where I have stated any pleasure in general/good employees losing their jobs!
if you can find any posts or any ntl employee who knows me, and claims I have ever made such a general statement I will eat my hat. In fact they would of probably tackled me on one of my nights out with some of them if it were the case.

Look at the facts, and don't just twist things to try to get people on this forum to have a go at me by posting things that are lies. If I say things about ntl and "specific managers" you dont like you just have to live with it and not get abusive about it or try to drum up a sympathy vote.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Can't see where I'm trying to do that, you said something I thought was out of order and I told you so.
I really don't care what you say about ntl or specific managers to be honest, you might wanna try hearing both sides of those stories though because no doubt there are very different sides.
This distraction from the main thread over methinks.

EDIT: Part of my irritation is that I meet broadcast people on a daily basis and they're a good bunch, I don't see what any beefs you have with home managers are to do with them to be honest :shrug: nor do I see this as Steve Carter sticking the knife in, he's had plenty of chance to do that already, and however moronic I consider OfCom to be, they aren't stupid enough to risk legal action on themselves.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Just for the record, I do appreciate what it's like for people to loose their jobs through lost contracts, I can speak through experience.

I worked for a company that supplied $10M worth of equipment and had an agreed $1M a year maintenance contract, the company who placed the order took delivery of all the equipment and had it all installed by the coompany I was working for. they then tried every trick in the book to avoid paying, and tried to go back on the maintenance agreement that was agreed by both parties.

The company involved in this underhanded practice eventually managed to get away without paying for over $40M worth of orders signed by this one director alone, they went into chapter 11.

They also placed some large orders with another company promising to pay out of the next years budget shortly before this happened.

The director in question left the company earlier this year under a cloud of suspicion and investigation, I understand he is now a CEO of a company in the caribbean (Bermuda)

Yes, the company who conducted this and many similar rip offs that put people out of work was your very own ntl
I do speak from some experience on this matter, I was the cynical one who said from early on that ntl would never pay for the equipment or honour the maintenance contract. In fact all the ex-ntl employees involved in the fiasco thought the same.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

I have some sympathy, however credit ratings are there for a reason and ntl's was appauling in the year and more before they went into Chapter 11, if your director viewed them an acceptable risk it's as much his and the underwriters / actuaries fault.

However that said you still take the chance to have another swipe at ntl, you were out of order with what you said originally in my opinion simple as and are trying to make excuses (though a good chance to have a swipe can't be missed can it?) - get over it and your problems with ntl, you don't work for them anymore and haven't for some time, holding a grudge is unhealthy.

EDIT: and yes you do clearly hold a grudge still your signature tells its' own pretty clear story.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

:clap:


About time that was said.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Oh, I stand corrected!

I didn't understand it was everyone elses fault bar ntl, it was obviously OK for Knapp his other kronies and other directors to fiddle the figures and deny there were any problems.

By the way Ignition, I have just been informed your little trick hasn't worked! :D

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

That you actually think I care is the worst bit to be honest, I'm happy that you're happy + getting supportive PMs / whatever.

Sad.

EDIT: Must go, found a forum about an ex employer I feel the need to troll.

EDIT2: Ah corporate misconduct now? I don't remember any accusations of corporate misconduct being levelled against ntl, which is interesting considering they have always been a US registered company and the courts had the pleasure of going through their affairs with a fine tooth comb pre, during and post Chapter 11. Anyone who went into the records would have seen cash flow, cash in hand and all the other figures a publically listed company is required by law to produce. If your company saw that as an acceptable risk they are to blame as well, they knew what the score was.

Bad judgement absolutely, corporate misconduct?!

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Poor old Escapee, I don't have any problem with him.

He's always come across as someone who just can't get over the fact that he was made redundant.

Probably thought the company wouldn't function without him and it ******es him off that they can.

Being made redundant can be quite a blow to some people, especially if in their opinion there are other less able people being kept on.

He always goes on about management in ntl being so bad etc etc, usually this only comes from his experience in the South Wales franchise.

ntl management are far from perfect, however they managed to steer the comapny from the brink of collapse to a company that at least has a future.

Yes they may have also brough the company to the brink of collapse but they were not alone in the telco industry to be caught out during this time.

ntl - Chapter 11
Global Crossing - Chapter 11
Worldcom - Chapter 11
Flag - Chapter 11
Energis - debt restructure
Telewest - debt restructure
Redstone - debt restructure
Omne - nearly went out of business, stopped building - bought by Wight cable
Atlantic - cease trading, assets bought by Gamma
186K UK - cease trading, assets bought by Hutchison
C&W - lost a fortune


There's probably more, so really ntl were not alone and have done well since. Knapp built the company, probably too fast and using other peoples money. (I lost a good few quid through the dissolution of my share options). but the company is still here, and although your sig says something about long knives etc. It will continue to be here. It may merge etc in the future but will continue to be.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Oh very interesting, when did ntl make me redundant then?

That's news to me! :confused:

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Sorry if I'm mistaken, I did just assume this by your repeated negativity towards ntl.

If you left of your own free well then fair enough but it matters not the same gist of the post applies.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

How many people here have any idea what this is supposed to mean?

More to the point find me a cableco whose return paths are set up to handle that powerful a signal. As you very well know this is why power budgets are calculated across the coaxial segments and amplifiers set as they are so that when signals hit the fibre nodes they aren't at an excessive power to overdrive lasers to clipping or shutdown point.

Amazingly enough people opening up cabinets and inserting oscillations onto return path is not exactly common, and the naturally occuring impediments I've seen don't come close to doing this.

You also might like to know we're using a different supplier to the one you probably worked with now.

Nice try again though. :rolleyes:

EDIT: Apologies to those wondering what the hell, he was trying to make out ntl's network is substandard because firing a signal a hell of a lot stronger than it's specified to handle will break it... duh.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Oh, but people do open the cabinets and put oscillators onto the retrn path network daily!!!! suprise suprise....how else do they set the pad and EQ's at the DA's and Node?
(they can also use the stealth, but this is just a swept carrier that has to be programmed to miss the return path alocations in use)

Different supplier makes no difference, it's all the same principle. Some lasers will shut down and some will go into distortion.

you are certainly showing ignorance by saying the strong signal would break it....duh. but then again it wouldn't take much signal injected at a customers isolator box to take out the directional coupler, that would be no use as it would most likely have affect on the silly customer or neighbouring ports on the tap. If any of the network techs have taken a tap apart they will tell you they are grouped.

There is a lot of things that the vast majority of ntl employees on this board don't know about their HFC network, there are many who think they do but the people with hands on experience at optical/RF level are very few and far between here. I raised issues with a former boss about the silly information on frequency allocations that were being made available on .com for the return path. ntl employees were openly giving out the safe combination numbers to would be sabotage/disgruntled employees and customers.

A little knowledge is very dangerous.

Go away and talk to someone who understands to component level, and they will tell you it only takes about 5 capacitors, 4 resistors, 3 coils and 1 transistor, and a PP3 battery to give 1 watt of RF, enough to wipe out an entire node!

If I was such a bitter twisted ex-employee with all the components at hand to make hundreds of these, wouldn't I of been knocking them out by now? :confused:

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Moving back to the original point of this discussion, and there is a need to regulate the mast companies. ntl and Crown Castle are the only people who can provide a national service, and for the TV providers that can only be done by the companies jointly, as neither has national coverage.

The question is how to regulate. Up to now there has been a price cap. Ofcom is trying to see if a more intelligent approach can be found.

None of this is new, the price cap has been in place since the two networks were privatised, and the current proposals are effectively mid way through a consultation period.

I'm sure if anyone has a better way, Ofcom would be more than happy to hear.

The process has been going on from before the current ntl attempt to sell the masts business, so will not come as a surprise to the bidders.

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Apologies:

This is done daily? Why the hell would we need to callibrate all the network daily :confused: Return path insertions are done but certainly not at 70dBmV and by people who have an idea what they are doing and that they'll get fired if they shove something that powerful down there.

You are showing extreme ignorance with the figures you put, +70dBmV is like saying that plugging a 110V device into 220V current will break it, you know as well as I do that in normal function the levels hitting the fibre nodes are nowhere near +70, christ by the time they get to the uBRs which is pretty much all fibre to the headend they are only +0 or +4. The amount of return path nodal drop out faults suggest you are talking crap sir even mentioning this, it's like saying a snow storm kills Sky reception, yes we know but it's so rare it's not worth talking about.

Most don't need to know about it. Tech and IP network support don't need to know, is that such a problem?

Frequency allocations? You what? A quick google will show the forward and return path ranges, a look on Robin Walker's site will show the downstream frequencies and some of the common upstream ones.

How often does this happen? So why talk about it? What exactly is your problem if you weren't sacked etc, etc, that you feel the need to undermine the people that are there, and when is it going to enter your head that there are two sides to every story, not just the one you hear, and the franchaise you worked in isn't the only one in the company?

Dunno? Next on your hitlist maybe? You clearly are pretty bitter and twisted otherwise why go on about it? Why are you posting on this forum, most of the time you're about as helpful as a waxwork in a furnace and about the only thing you do is complain about how evil ntl are, some of it I agree with but you just go on, and on, and on about it. Doesn't it ever get boring? Don't you have better things to do? I'm here to help people, you sir are trolling this forum and nothing else. You rarely bring anything of value to this forum and your main source of assistance to people is telling them how crap ntl are, the local management, how many people have been made redundant, how much the RF engineers hate their job. They have a lousy deal, I know this. I do actually try and help make their lives easier. Your posts just make them look like they are constantly whinging as you seem to feel the need to.

Gonna leave this thread has become another forum for 'Escapee' to vent his frustration and belittle ntl, not that he's a twisted or bitter ex employee :dunce:

Re: NTL Broadcast Sale In Doubt
 

Okay, that's enough. I suggest you all stop now please, this is not the place for trading insults, any more and this topic will be closed.