[Horizon]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

So, my argument is quite simply this, VM have been stringing us all along, about HD and by the looks of it, we will get, what we have now - NOTHING. And before people say, l am critical of VM, you are damn right. We deserve HD channels.

I agree, but to be fair to VM, they only recently put on their web site that there would be HD channels coming in the future, and its not very prominent at that.

A lot of the speculation may have arisen from comments that I and others posted about what VM bosses say to the City financial people. Berkett has said and given quite specific timetables that HD would be coming by x time, but this was said only to the City and NOT to the public.

It's all been said before, but there isn't HD on VM for this reason, VM do not have access to it, Sky does and controls it, or most of it.

Sky control the bulk of HD in two ways. Firstly, they own the rights to the bulk of premiership football and other top sports in HD. They also own the rights to broadcast Hollywood films in HD. Secondly, Sky does have agreements with other broadcasters that their HD channels (like Ch4 and Discovery) will only broadcast on Sky's satellite platform and no other.

VM, BT and others have complained to Ofcom a couple of years ago now (things move VERY slowly...) that Sky will not sell to them their HD material at wholesale rates. The Ofcom decision on this is soon and Ofcom may force Sky to sell their HD material to VM, but they, Sky, will fight this. From Sky's point of view, why would they wish to give up a competitive advantage to other companies?

So, the situation has been that VM has not had access to the bulk of HD material, including the lucrative sports and films from Sky.

As for the network (don't forget that VM are billions in debt) they could've switched off analogue tv sooner and spend all the money. But, what would've been the point of that when VM have had enough bandwidth for whatever standard definition channels they wish to carry without turning off analogue. They would only need the enormous bandwidth freed up by analogue shutdown if they were going to launch HD channels, the same HD channels they didn't have access to in the first place...There is actually sense in their (VM's bosses) thinking.

Do people really think if VM could get access to Sky's sports and films HD channels, that they wouldn't launch them as fast as is humanly possible? They don't launch them, because Sky control them.

If I were to guess, I'd say that Ofcom will force Sky to share their HD stuff with VM, BT etc. But Sky will appeal, so it could be some time before we see masses of HD channels on cable. By a "strange" coincidence, VM made the decision to switch off all analogue tv by early next year... VM's bosses calculated when they would get access to HD channels and that's why the analogue switchoff will be completed next year as that's when they will get access to all the HD channels. (me thinks)

Instead, VM has been concentrating on broadband. Eventually, a long way off, even the tv channels (if there's still channels) will be "broadcast" down the broadband pipes. No other company can launch fast broadband like VM has to the masses. There's a few tiny companies with fibre optic speeds, but no where near the scale of VM's network. Even Sky got into broadband, because it knows where the future lies.

VM has just announced a unlimited music subscription downland service. It will only be a matter of time before a legal video download service comes too. By that time and with the recently announced levy on telephone lines, BT will be launching a whopping 2mb service to the countryside and perhaps 50mb in the city (I doubt it). Vm will be on 100mb and beyond by then. And of course, eventually, even HD will be coming down the pipes too, rights permitting.

If you want HD now, sign up to Sky. They have excellent bargains and you'll only be tied into a 12 month contract. I expect that by this time next year, this HD business will be sorted, one way or the other, so check back then.

By the way, if Ofcom do force Sky to sell their HD stuff to VM, Berkett has said to the City that the analogue shutdown could be speeded up and he could do a full HD launch within 6 months, a lot sooner to digital only areas.

Watch out for the Ofcom report on the pay tv industry to give a clear indication of the HD "issue" and when/if, it'll be coming to cable.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/

The report is "coming soon", as we like to say on here.