remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

seems Sky may have one or two skeletons to hide refused to hand over documents critical to the investigation.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investi...moretopstories

I wonder if ofcom might just get fed up with Sky and side its finding without these documents against sky act if they cannot provide requested then treat them as being guilty. Not sure if ofcom can force a legal challenge to raid sky for these documents.

Sky had nearly 1 year to provide these documents being Feb was the deadline. Since the investigation was formally anounced march 2007.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2007/03/nr_20070320

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Sky obviously can not find a valid reason and therefore could not defend themselves. Instead the choose to ignore the deadline. Ofcom are going to have to come down really hard on Sky soon if they are not careful. They do seem to be ruffling a few feathers especially amongst competitors!

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

the sad thing is if sky gets broken up like BT did the consumer will lose out.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

they couldnt come down hard enough.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

thats true but they not helping themselves being bullies when it comes to table negotiations and ignoring requests from the regulators during investigations.

I suspect SKY arlready know the outcome and ofcom deliberation and not bothered in fighting its corner.

I think Ofcom could shake up pay tv make both VM and sky platform carriers only. I think sky definately heading for collision course and trip to competitions commision. Ultimately see the break up is likely to happen.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Not everyone will lose out! Only Sky customers. We will get a fairer market with better pricing and offers that's for sure

---------- Post added at 19:08 ---------- Previous post was at 19:07 ----------

Sky seriously needs it's wings clipped! In fact chopped off! They play seriously dirty and use their monopoly to manipulate the whole market!

---------- Post added at 19:10 ---------- Previous post was at 19:08 ----------

There is no reason to make VM carriers only. They do not hold any influence over anyone. They need to pay their debts and they can only do this by offering a good service. They do this by offering a great portfolio of channels and have ondemand offerings.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

I agree wholeheartedly that VM want there system closed to bring in funds. However if ofcom decide it should be open network and side with sky (I doubt it would happen) but the whole pay tv is being scrutinised we could see very suprising outcome.

Ofcom might just smash open everything to do with pay tv force a break up sky and make vm closed network open shop. The reason would be if SKy do get broken up would VM become the biggest Pay tv company.

Thats what mainly I was refering too. Personally I dont think Sky will have a hope in chance to get into VM network which they want.

I think there arrogance paid to ofcom giving them a ray of light in that front. They only got themselves to blame.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

sky customers losing out is an acceptable casualty then?

as for some gaining I wouldnt be so sure, how many consumers gained when premiership football rights were fragmented?

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

VM could not survive with an open system. If anyone could just on board VM would lose serious revenue. They need it closed so they can charge carriage rights. Sky has the daving grace of having national coverage and they actually make a profit. It does not harm them to be an open platform.
VM built up their network from scratch and it cost them dearly. Sky rent Astra satelites and i know they built their customer base up from nothing created their own epg etc. But the upfront costs weren't nearly the same in comparison to vm digging up roads and laying cables.

VM would become the biggest pay tv company if Sky was broken up? How's that? Sky have by fair the biggest customer base, coverage, by far the biggest income & by far the most muscle in the market even if they did not have their content division to back them up.

I'm sorry but Sky customers have been gaining whilst watching every others companies customers losing out for too long! Exclusive HD, exclusive sky sports interactive! Now Sky one! I could go on. If Sky is broken up they won't have the amount of muscle and persuasion over their competitiors that they have and it will mean a much fairer market! I am all up for Sky to be broken up, they obviously can not be trusted and they have a nasty hold over everyone in the market. That's why the likes of VM, BT, Tiscali and tutv have submitted complaints! Companies can get too big for their boots and it prevents competition.

Customers have the choice of what they want now. Setanta offer attractive deals and buy up lots of great packages plus they recently announced they have signed up a great boxing deal! Which be part of their package not PPV! Unlike sky sports who make you pay a sports subscription and then charge you for boxing on top of your sub! Bring on ESPN i say! Make it even more fragmented and better priced because £18 amonth for sport is ridiculous.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

the thing is a fair and competitive market is not always a good thing.

so at the moment we have a good pay tv provider and poor pay tv providers, it will simply bring sky down to the level of vm and we will have more poor pay tv providers.

Everyone here moaning about sky do they have a good reason they cannot get sky tv themselves or is out of choice?

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Precisely!!

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

An unfair market would just give us more Mr Potato head on TV !

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

It would be worse if his #2 started presenting shows again...

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

:LOL:

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Speaking as one who had television from NTL I am still happy I made the move to sky.

I think a lot of people are still hung over from the losing of the sky 1 episode ( pardon the pun ) so a lot of comments could be seen as very much tongue in cheek.

Lets face it, what did vm replace sky 1 with?:rolleyes:

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Dunno but I never watched SKY apart from lost and BSG, lost is well.... lost now. Well the script writers look like they are lost anyway. ;)


BSG finishes after this series and I got it on DVD or HD DVD anyway.

Simpsons on C4 so that does as well.
Being honest, I dont rate SKY 1, ITV 1 is probably more watched in my house.

Pushing daisys looks like it is shaping up to be a regular watch and Dr Who and Terminator kinda cover my viewing apart from movies.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Oh yes I remember my ntl days.

analogue tv due to ntl not upgrading the cables.

Paying more than digital customers for less than a 10th of the channels.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Mate that is a load of rubbish!

It would bring Sky down to the same level as VM! How would it? Sky aren't about to change their tactics or their customer service is not going to get suddenly worse because competition is healthier.

Sky are far too dominant and use bully boy tactics to get what they want.
If they were fairer then the market would be much better off. I understand they are a business and really can not say i blame them but they are crippling every one else on the market and are treading on too many toes.
Other companies should be allowed to grow and offer good services without being bullied because that means their customers lose out.

I had Sky a few years ago and found i got an overall better deal with then Telewest and i get an even better deal now they are VM. there has been some major improvements.

Fact is Sky was worried two small cable companies becoming one and doubling its strength and capability. They have much more muscle as one company than they ever did as two and therefore Sky did it's best to **** on it's launch. They put VM in their place from the word go. Only now are they beginning to come back from that and are now posting their best quarter since merger and one of the best in cable history.

Now there is issues with them ignoring their regulators! You can't do that!

---------- Post added at 13:51 ---------- Previous post was at 13:37 ----------

Let me see.......
1. Virgin 1 lots more first run content than Sky1 and lots more home commissions.
2. Setanta sports.
3. Setanta sports news.
4. About 2 thousand more hours of VOD and it's still growing. Including some HD series too.
5. Broadband upgrades and another two coming soon 50meg is coming soon and 4 meg customers get a free upgrade to 10meg.
6. Aresenal tv, Liverpool tv.
7. Free music videos on demand!

So quite a lot actually. Lot's more than ever just having Sky basics ;)

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Cor! If it was that good why did I ever move away?

Oh yeah! I just remembered and wishing to rain on your parade ........

1. It's been ages since the launch and two prestige wide screen offerings have been castrated into an unatural 14.9:1 in a 4.3 frame aspect because Virgins high profile Sky1 replacement is STILL a DEDICATED 4.3 CHANNEL.
2. I see lots of complaints about aspect and PQ issues regarding Setanta on VM. Can't say it's any better on Sky as I don't subscribe but I don't recall seeing complaints about it on the Sky Forums.
3. Not a sporty person so couldn't give a monkeys. Sorry.
4. Could very rarely access it. Series and Eps seemed to disappear and reappear without any logical pattern. Many series were incomplete. Catchup TV was mostly unavailable or unpopulated.
5. Over contended in many areas, STM, off shored support, Phorm, lack of network maintenace and upgrades.
6. Not a sporty person, hate football, so couldn't give a monkeys. Sorry.
7. Was always unavailable, not that I tried too hard. :D

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Not really, if skys income for content dropped then the investment into future content would also drop alongside it, in addition the lower profits would mean they subsidise their broadband less meaning something would have to give on their broadband which is actually very good quality (no noticeable contention and no traffic shaping).
If sky was broken up skys customers would likely be ringing a sky reseller to get problems fixed instead of sky directly, sky would also likely cost more as the resellers would need to add their profit margins on top of the costs.

My question remains tho instead of changing to sky why are you instead staying with VM and calling for changes to be made to make sky worse? are you on a retention deal?

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

1. My word! change the record will you? Big deal it broadcasts in 4:3 and not widescreen, that's all you ever say and it's the only argument you have!
There is a lot more new content on V1 since the launch than there has been on Sky1! Sky2 was a repeat of Sky1 so no loss and Sky three was a repeats of Sky1 and too!
V1 is showing three of the top American imports to come out this year all bar one has been giving a second season! Chuck renewed, Riches renewed, SCC tbc but looks likely. What did Sky1 have? Journey man? Oh yeah that got canned because it was rubbish.
2. Picture quality can't be expected to be the same as Sky because it is a hell of a lot cheaper than Sky! Plus not everyone has HD, the majority of joe public still have standard non widescreen sets never mind HD compatible.
Picture quality is only an issue if you are used to HD broadcasts from Sky but like i said there is an £8 difference! Plus vm customers get it for jak.
3. You're not a sporty person? Good for you, there is much bigger market for Sport than there is Sky 1. Sport is the biggest thing in England and VM xl customers get it for no additional cost. I was not asking you of your personal experience, i was telling you and the other poster that we have infact seen lots since the removal of Sky basics.
4. I can access VOD and find my easily accessible and reliable as can a lot of other people. Infact the recent quarter results from VM show VOD is being used more and more and recieves millions upon millions of hits and views every quarter. Catch up tv is a great addition as i do not have a pvr. There are only select series without the full series showing and that is down the distriubutors not VM because showing full series affects DVD sales. We have seen quite a few HD series added to OD since the removal of Sky basics too which includes Sopranos, Lost Ghost whisperer etc.
5.Off shored support? Last time i looked Sky used offshored centres too!
6.Phorm is not an issue because you have the option to opt out of it problem solved!

---------- Post added at 13:33 ---------- Previous post was at 13:20 ----------

Sky will have exactly the same income if they were broken up. They are not about to lose their subscribers, only the amount of influence they have over the market because they won't be able to use things like Sky basics as bargaining tools to destroy competition. You obviously do not understand the sort of negative influence it has on the market and has competition is so stiffled so i will leave it there, it's far too long winded.
Sky BB may well be good for you but it has certain restrictions due to exchange locations. I am glad you get a good bb service but an extremely large percentage does not. VM may have stm but it is only affecting heavy users. I use torrents and am not affected. They say you need to be downloading something like 9gb a night which is the equivalent to three movie files. With Sky you have a certain allowance per month for download limits after that you are screwed in my opinion that's much worse than being traffics shaped.

My question remains tho instead of changing to sky why are you instead staying with VM and calling for changes to be made to make sky worse? are you on a retention deal?[/QUOTE]

No i am not on a retention deal, i am happy with my service and i get what i pay for and since VM lost Sky basics i receive an overall much more attractive package than i ever did when basics was available. I had Sky years ago and chose Telewest because they were cheaper. Not only are they still cheaper than Sky but i now feel i get an overall better service than Sky.
I'm not saying i want to make Sky worse you are twisting my words i said i feel sky should be regulated and make the market fairer because that improves competition and prices for everyone.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

TVTimes you are a PR person and by continuing to play the same old record I am just taking a leaf from your book.

I don't keep bigging up Sky TV, it's you who keep on bigging up VM TV and I feel I just have to point out the shortcomings of the service.

I'm not going to waste my time remarking on individual points in your post but will just say that if you are happy to receive a bandwidth strapped, second rate, overpriced and behind the times TV service then that's your problem. Just stop exaggerating about a niche channel that mostly does nothing but show decade old repeats of Living and Bravo material.

I see the second series of Hero's starts Thursday on BBC2. Thank goodness a proper channel will be able to broadcast it in it's 16.9 entirety.

Oh! and FYI there's no HD TV here. Just SD on a WS TV. For the amount of HD content available I don't regard it as being worthwhile. Maybe in the future?

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

well if sky is broken up as the article says then sky will just increase subscriptions at a higher rate or worse increase prices in other areas to compensate for having to deal with seperate entities of the same company, much like bt and its 'payment division' :rolleyes:

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

A PR person? Yeah mate of course i am.:rolleyes:
Nearly all of your posts go on and on about widescreen! It's not the end of the world that it's broadcast in 4:3 it won't be forever and it does not affect the programme quality. If you are that picky not to watch a good programme because it's not widescreen that's your problem. You can pick out the short comings all you want, fact is there is very little short comings and the problems it does have is very small.

BB is bandwith strapped you say? Better than be exchange restricted! Only heavy users are affected by STM. I'm a torrent user and am never affected.
Then there is download limits to consider! At least i know i can download as much content i want without running out of an allowance set by my ISP.
Behind the times tv service you say? I would say VOD is much more ahead of it's of time than HD channels well Skys anytime isn't that's a joke! Plus there is enough HD VOD content on there anyway which is always updated regularly.

Stop exaggerating over a niche channel that shows nothing but repeats of Living and Bravo content you say?
Stop bragging over a nice channels that shows repeats of decade old simpsons, malcolm in the middle, futurama, cold case etc! Plus flops such as Journey man that don't even make a second season! They can'd find there own successes so instead they resort to nicking other networks successful programmes like Lost, prison break and 24 and pass them off as their own!
V1 has been launched since November and prime time has been mostly new content! Crime invasion, Death row dogs, the envy series, city in fear, Riches, Chuck, SCC, caribbean cops, Bob the exorcist, Extroadinary humans etc! I could go on!

---------- Post added at 13:35 ---------- Previous post was at 13:20 ----------

They won't increase prices if they want to remain competitive. They will need to invest in their services and continue make improvements to differentiate themselves from the competition. If they don't and they increase prices then customers will not just accept it and they will walk.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Well I was actually speaking about the TV service but since you mention it the whole network is bandwidth strapped. Nice to hear you are helping with this by your constant uploading. Unless, of course you are a hit and runner. :rolleyes:
Well shortly you will only be able to do that overnight thanks to the new draconian limits being imposed because the network is bandwidth strapped. Hopefully you will remember to turn off your torrents before you leave for work in the morning.:D
VOD is just like the red button services on Virgin - Extremely iffy.
Yep I reckon it was a good choice on VM's part to pick an old mpeg2 PVR out of SA's bargain bin.
No more HD channels for you in the foreseeable future cause the service is bandwidth strapped.
I fully agree Anytime is a joke. Everybody knows it is. I think I might have mentioned that earlier. If not then in some other thread.
See.. there you go again. Promoting V1 against Sky1 with such a manic fervour. Of the two of us you are the only one who cares. Never once have I promoted the Sky1 channel. The only thing I would promote is the Sky TV Platform. I think V1 and Sky1 are both equally crap and pretty much never watch either of them. The difference is only that Sky1 shows A-rated quality crap in 16.9 while V1 shows mostly B-rated crap in 4.3. :D
Oh dear! I mentioned that V1 is a 4.3 channel again didn't I, tsk, tsk. :dozey:

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

The tv is bandwith strapped? Maybe in regards to channels it is but there is plenty of VOD to make up for the loss of channels. Who the hell wants crap like wedding tv and sum tv and wine tv and holiday tv really?! Sky may have more channels but the majority are pure rubbish! I don't want that rubbish clogging up my EPG imagine how long it would take to scan through to find something worth watching! The analogue channels are being turned off and then there will be no further bantwith issues for tv.
Please explain to me how their internet service is bandwith strapped? I get a solid 20meg connection not a problem and there are plenty of other VM customers in the area. I feel sorry for you if you're bandwith strapped but the majority of customers seem happy with their VM bb service i guess that's why over a hundred thousand join every quarter eh?

No i always share torrents i download it's only fair;)

I'll happily say you have lost me on this one? That's the first i have heard of it have you got an proof with a link?
If it was indeed true i'm sure there would be an uproar on other sites regarding VM too. As i said not the net bandwith is not all that strapped and they will soon be upgrading it to 50meg for more than the likes of BT, Sky and co can manage!
You say prices are high for VM bb? That's because they offer stability my friend and like i said there is no exchange issues. Sky can't go round charging for bb that they can not offer guaranteed stability on now can they? Imagine all those customers paying full price for 16meg bb and then only getting 1 meg because of exchange locations!

VOD is very much in it's infancy so people are going to have problems but it is hardly all the time.I think i have lost vod twice but in 2 years but a simple reset sorted that one out. No it's not like red button it's far from it that makes me wonder if you have actually used VM vod! It is nothing like red button services, which red button services is it like? When Iplayer launches that will be a soft launch through red button but the rest of the platform is nothing like red button.
You say they chose the poorer PVRs of the two? Well what does that say for Sky+ then? VM chose the worst pvr yet it still beats Sky+ hands down! I don't see Sky+ offering SD upscale, 3 tuners, and HD compatible! Then there is all the VOD library included! I am very happy with my VOD services from VM as are plenty of others who are happy to receive 4,000 hrs of VOD (since the Sky basics removal) and it's constantly increasing, 1,000 music videos included in my package(since the Sky basics removal)HD series of lost, ghost whisperer, mega structures, sopranos etc(since the Sky basics removal) Setanta sports for no extra fee(since the Sky basics removal) Setanta sports news(since the Sky basics removal). I was simply pointing out to another poster that we have seen lots of things since the removal of Sky basics which he suggested we have not.

Well that's your opinion. You stated above that V1 is inferior to the likes of Sky one as it still brodcasts in 4:3 instead of widescreen. It is also your opinion that Sky show real quality programmes although you just said in exactly the same paragraph that you thought they were both rubbish, which one is it? Make your mind:D

So where is this rubbish that you say V1 broadcast and where is the quality that Sky one broadcast? V1 has been here how long? 6 months and already they have shown 3 of the biggest shows to come out of America last year and this year! 2 of which have been renewed and it's looking likely SCC will be renewed too. Then there is all that many, many home grown commissions! I would say V1 is one of the better channels on freeview because it actually shows first run content of new massive shows most of which are normally grabbed for the likes of paytv channels which means freeviewers miss out and have to wait. Where is Sky ones A-rated content again? Oh right Gladiators! A remake of an old ITV show that has well and truly had it's day!
Journey man, wasn't a big hit at all and got canned after 13 eps.
Lost oh that was nicked off Channel 4 so hardly one of Skys own successes. What else is there? Oh yes prison break one of channels 5 so, so successes and since it launched it's new season on Sky one vieweing figures have dropped dramatically. The simpsons, i admit i love the simpsons but they have passed their sell by date and the movie was an all out effort to save the franchise. The past several seasons have been much poorer than that of it's previous seasons and it just seems to have lost it's spark and direction although i admit i still watch it. The only real decent thing to come out of Sky one recently has been Ross Kemp in Afghanistan (that was amazing) and the colour of magic although that didn't go down all that well with the viewers, i liked it.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Just to answer my own statement in regards to SCC being renewed. It's been confirmed
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a94...nd-season.html

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

PR/BR/JR who cares why question any one who doesnt hold your views, life is like that some like coffee, others Tea get over it ?

Or as Harry Hill says whos best Virgin Or Sky, there's only one way to find out fight.

Que person dressed up in Virgin Logo Fights Person dressed up in Sky logo.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12...statement.html
Tvtimes you seem to be so un-informed I sincerely doubt the wisdom of continuing to try to debate these self evident truths with you.

Remember ignorance is never a defence.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

lol

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

As you are non-VM user continually arguing with people who have the service I wonder who is living in ignorance here Mick.
I know your story of life with cable is horror story but put any service provider into google and you will find horror stories similar to yours, including Sky.
Still if it gives you satisfaction after all the trouble VM caused you then carry on.

Incidentally to say that cable internet is overpriced and poor defies logic. Why? Because cable broadband is adding customers. If it were that bad not only would people not want to sign up but existing customers would be leaving faster than they could add new ones.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

You too are mis-informed as I am still a 20meg broad band customer with VM as well as being a Be Unlimited customer. Hey damn the expense, it's only money. :)

I wouldn't worry your head about it though as tvtimes and I have a history of good natured banter as indeed I thought I have had with yourself on a number of occasions.

Lifes too short to get too twisted up about things and as I have mentioned before I am much calmer now since I cancelled VM DTV for Sky+. Now that really is a fact and not an opinion. :D

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

yep same here not regretted ditching analogue ntl for sky one bit, sky+ is wonderful for me also after a few hiccups which they fixed.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

I am not questioning anyone who does not hold my views Mike i simply showed that there has been things launched since the removal of the Sky basics which was a response to another member not yourself and then you chose to question my reply.

I'm not interested in getting into a tit for tat battle with you but if you're going to post nonsense or things i don't agree with them i will ask you why and air my views after all this is a open public forum not zimbabwe.

---------- Post added at 16:28 ---------- Previous post was at 16:23 ----------

Riiiiiiight, so i said my download limits are not affected and i can dowload as much files as i like and then you said soon i won't be able to over night i asked you for proof of this and you posted a link regarding STM? I was talking about download allowances as the amount of gb you can download per month which has sod all to do with STM. So i asked you for a link and you have quoted a link of nonsense that is irrelevant to my point? If anyone is ill informed it's you mate:rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 16:48 ---------- Previous post was at 16:28 ----------

Yeah lol, the world hypocrite comes to mind for me! Hates the service and has the option of ADSL but choses not too:rolleyes:I wonder why:rolleyes:

Yep you're right there!
Cable is by far the biggest ISP in the country and has over a 100,000 customers joining ever month for bb alone whilst their churn is signficantly lower and they are reporting their best quarter results ever! Hardly seems like your average Joe is unhappy with prices and VM being uncompetitive because otherwise people would not be joining the way they are! BB is VMs strong point by far! VM is charging the prices it is because the majority of customers get their advertised speeds and don't constantly receive drop outs! My mate is on Sky and can't wait for his contract to be up so he can move his TV and BB over to VM i can't say i blame him because he pays them for 16meg and gets roughly 4-7 meg with drop outs at least twice a week!

---------- Post added at 16:49 ---------- Previous post was at 16:48 ----------

lol you're seriously comparing Sky+ to ntl analogue! my word!:D

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

So Who won Sky Or Virgin ?

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Shareholders.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

It has not been decided yet my friend and this investigation is a totally different matter although it does play a part in the investigation;) Basically this investigation is to an investigation into the paytv market and both big players Sky and VM are being investigated. This is because of lots of factors
I will supply you a link to ofcoms website http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2007/03/nr_20070320

Th actual court case for the Sky basics issues is still yet to go ahead and should be going to court this summer. No doubt the losing party will then appeal and it will drag out even further whilst other customers lose out.

---------- Post added at 08:18 ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 ----------

Just noticed my cock up there! 100,000 customers every month? VM wish lol I meant every quarter.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

I would imagine the lawyers would have done quite well out of it...

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Yes because analogue is all ntl would offer me as they refuse to upgrade the area to digital.

You may think is unfair but until vm upgrade all the areas to digital analogue is 'current' service in some areas and is what will be compared against.

Where I am now is also analogue only, same for one of my sisters.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

The lawyers always win in the long run, even if the company they are representing, or justice doesn't.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Fair enough then. Shame really because it would be great for you if you actually had the choice. I can't live without ondemand now:D

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Sadly, Virgin Media are short sighted enough that they don't see the potential profits in actually extending the network. They preferred just to buy other pre-built networks..

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Yes basically for me I am comparing freeview (poor as I am on the edge of 2 transmittors), vm analogue (was poor 2 years ago when I was on ntl analogue and I wasnt happy I was paying more than ntl digital customers, why would I voluntairly choose analogue over didigtal service), sky digital (as far as I am concerned is a very good service).

Stuart I couldnt agree more.

First off scrapping analogue frees up bandwidth on the cable equipment which would help broadband, they would no longer have the problem of managing two difference services billing etc., they may actually gain customers I cant think of many people who would pick analogue cable over digital sky (sorry I can they pick it because can clone broadband modems and use hacked tv boxes :( )

VM have at least woke up to one thing, they finally realised they should be concentrating on broadband instead of tv as the tv is a lose lose for them. They are at least in my city started to work on the broadband coverage, the sister who is in a analogue area has very recently ordered VM broadband they upgraded the cables on her street. Sadly still no plans for my area.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

What profits, they are still paying off debt acrued for purchasing existing networks. How could going further into debt make their business profitable, when many here say they are leaving for one reason or another.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Thats right,for example Telewest acquired Eurobell for £282 Million in November 2000 and then spent £50,000 on removing Eurobell Telephone boxes which was stupid as money could be made through kiosk-glass advertising.So how do you think they got that money because just 1 year before in 1999 Telewest also acquired NTL's (Formerly Comcast) share in Cable London for £428 Million and also acquired NTL's (Formerly Comcast) share in Birmingham Cable for undisclosed amount.They obviously borrowed it!Then both companies have done there fair share at acquiring Cable companies and shares:Telewest:Eurobell (2001)Flextech TV (2000?)Imminus Business Telco servicesCable London 50% stake from NTL(1999)Birmingham Cable 50% stake from NTL(1999)Cable Internet(Blueyonder) 50% stake from CWC(Nynex,VT)Yorkshire Cable (Around 1998)General Cable (Around 1998)Cable Corp (All remaining shares)United Artists UK (Telewest's original areas until the company was demerged from United Artists now called Qwest.) That must have cost a lot!!!NTL:Telewest Communications(2006)Virgin Mobile Telecoms UK (2006)Virgin Group's 50% stake of Virgin.net(2003)Cable and Wireless Communications *** (2000)Diamond Cable (1999)Comcast UK partnerships(1998)Comtel(1998)***C&W- Did not include One2One or Mercury infrastructure.And so many moreAlthough Virgin Media(NTL) did off load NTL Broadcast and its 50% stakes in Telewest franchises. so they probably paid some off that way????

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Oh I realise all that.

I am not sure about now, but in the past, where Cable was available, it achieved a greater number of users than Sky. Today, VM have around 4 million customers, yet the DTV network covers (IIRC) around 48% of the population.

So, potentially, Virgin could nearly DOUBLE their customers with proper investment.

---------- Post added at 10:12 ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 ----------

Thanks to mobile phones, the payphone industry in this country has virtually collapsed. There are still a lot of Payphones around, but BT and other providers have massively cut back on them.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Well Spectrum Interactive spent £2 Million in 2005 on acquiring 1,000 Interphone kiosks and replacing them with new ones

Kiosk advertising rakes in about £50 to £100 per month per kiosk and most payphones are heavily used by those using international calling cards via 0800 numbers. All payphone operators are entitled to 8.1p per minute commision when 0500,0800 and 0808 calls are connected and this collected by BT Wholesale and the owner of the freephone number has to pay for it. Apparently 18.3% of Spectrum Interactive's revenue is generated through freephone number calling.

Furthermore, the Virgin Media,Smallworld Media and Wight Cable networks pass approximately 9 Million homes altogether. Between 1994 and 1998 the cable penetration level was much higher, this was because Cable was simply cost effective and very cheap in comparison to using BT and Sky.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, BT and Sky are much more cost effective and because NTL provided a service which was unacceptable in terms of poor customer service and persistant outages and long waits for Digital upgrades, customers got cheesed off and left! Now these customers are going to be hard to retrieve!

Smallworld Media, a very small Cable company in the North are in the process of upgrading its Digital TV boxes for ALL customers not just new ones and will probably advertise the service better once this has happened. My feeling is that it will be swallowed up by Virgin Media.

I suppose another way NTL:Telewest could compete with Sky is to make deals with BT. What NTL should have done is that they should have used BT's brand instead,move all phone customers onto BT and get rid of there cable telephone service as its costing a lot of money to maintain.

That way BT/NTL would be able to provide in about 40% of the country:

Cable TV
Cable Broadband

BT Mobile over Vodafones network
National Telephone service to 97% of the country
ADSL Internet and BT Vision for outer cable areas.

However BT would only have a small percentage of this company and Ntl:Telewest would be leasing the brand for a cheaper price than what they pay for Virgin.


Then there would be no competition issues between Cable and BT and would compete successfully with Sky.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - *update* ofcom to rule end of summer
 

latest folks is SKY submitted details.

That ofcom will now look at each party arguments and publish its findings end of this summer.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2008/05/nr_20080513

Also if you want to take time reading each party grievences from general public to some companies here is link to all the pdfs

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/cond...ytv/responses/

It certainly will be interesting what will happen.

Please refrain from turning this into a sky v virgin spat this was solely a debate on PAY TV as whole and what the implecations to the future of pay tv.

I noticed at times this thread got sidetracked and dont want it lost in war of words that my service is better than yours.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - NEWDEVELOPING *UPDATE*
 

Well Folks the news is in On the PAY TV Seems Sky could be losing this battle with OFCOM reading this.

It seems OFCOM has some concerns on How PAY TV opperates are not happy on the monopoly and that content can be overcharged resulting consumers losing out. That it provents inovation plan is to propose Even a suggestion they me need to go to the Competition Commission under the Enterprise Act.

Is this a serious threat to SKY to get there act in order to play fair or we will take the control away from you.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/cond...paytv/summary/

Anybody got the stomach to read the Whole PDF this is the link below

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/cond...ytv/condoc.pdf

Sorry dragging old thread but this is important development in Pay TV revue.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - NEWDEVELOPING *UPDATE*
 

Maybe it will make sky treat the current negotiations seriously and try to avoid too many problems with the court case and these investigations. It sounds like from various sources negotiations are working towards channels resolved in january. Thats when carriage runs out of three virgin channels so they can be resolved at the same time as sky channels and hd channels.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

Well personally I wouldn't want the Sky channels back. I would much prefer that VM invest that money in their VOD content.

Re: remember the pay tv ofcom investigation - turns out SKY missed the deadline
 

I would second this:D