[chrisdtvuk]

[QUOTE=m419;35014861]The problem in Milton Keynes and Westminster lies down to local planning and council regulations amongst other factors. /QUOTE]

I believe it's partly down to planning as MK council didn't approve the planning of the MK Cable network - it was done by MKDC - the development corporation that established the place .. but that agreement with "BT Cable" was extended in recent times by Milton Keynes Partnership - the quango that took over the majority of infrastructure and local planning decisions. (Many local planning powers recently came back to MK Council, which has helped BT Openreach speed up planning consent for FTTP & C street cabs and civils.)

BT agreed to keep cabling the current expansion areas and future expansion areas of MK. It's not clear for how long.. but MKP was looking to the 2031 Master plan for MK.. not a short term thing by any stretch. A quarter of a million new homes are planned by then.. many of the estates of which are being built right now. Many estates that have already been built and are being marketed for sale now are connected to the cable network (silver 'duct' plate at the front of properties which when opened, reveals a coaxial tv cable with F connector).

[QUOTE=m419;35014861]The only way is to get the local councils and Ofcom to revoke the licences given to BT for these franchises as they are technically refusing to offer Digital TV! in fact, because it is underused,once Virgin Media pulls out, there will be no Cable operator listed so they could re-apply and re-cable from scatch costing between £50 Million to £70 Million per 150,000 homes. /QUOTE]

Agreed - revocation of BT's cable tv licences are the best way to ensure open competition. It may also be that once the government changes the law to allow operators to use BT ducts, Virgin may decide to 'overbuild' BT's Cable tv network. It all depends on commercial agreements with BT whether Virgin are forced to do it that way .. or agree a cheaper price for an upgrade of the current network, and seek agreement to pipe whatever service they want over BT's cables. I understand a resolution to this issue is very close indeed.

[QUOTE=m419;35014861]
And from what I have heard the Cable system used in these two areas isn't gonna be easy to upgrade because they are ancient and are totally different to the Analogue Cable systems used by say Nynex and Telewest of the mid-90's. The system dates back to the early 70's and 80's. /QUOTE]

Yes the network in the older areas of Milton Keynes is old.. but most of it is new .. and even now.. continues to be built out to new homes .. as MK is growing daily - one of the few areas in the UK still building new homes despite the recession.

The network in these areas is bound to be using better connections .. and is likely to be more 'segmented' per node... meaning an upgrade to digital is cheaper... i.e only the headend needing an upgrade. I believe this is why they've been quoted only 3M to upgrade the whole network to 2way digital.. rather than the 30M quoted to NTL back in 1999.

There should be some news on this early next year as I understand the CEO is reluctant to lose such a large swath of customers from both areas .. many of whom have little choice on alternatives.