original NTL areas

[Tezcatlipoca]

Used to be "Cambridge Cable" here & parts of the surrounding area. Can't remember when it changed to NTL. I think I remember an "Anglia Cable" too in some places around here which weren't Camb Cable.

[Chrysalis]

think it was diamond cable in leicester or cable and wireless, and those days were so much better, sky movies used to show premium films (pay as you go now), mtv used to play music almost all the time rather then just interviews and stuff and sky sports had all the football on. Also had that split screen channel which showed all the channels.

[Pierre]

Technically speaking there are no original ntl areas as ntl was not a cable tv provider.

As mentioned earlier the closest to original ntl is cabletel.

[Escapee]

Originally Posted by Pierre

Technically speaking there are no original ntl areas as ntl was not a cable tv provider.

As mentioned earlier the closest to original ntl is cabletel.

I have been slated and accused of misleading people when putting that point straight in the past!

Cabletel were a tin-pot operation that stemmed from Ocom communications, they bought a couple of existing franchise areas that had been owned by Rediffusion/Maxwell/Metro Cable TV in Guildford and Cardiff, they had a very bad reputation in the early days and many of the employees left a lot to be desired as they were ones that Rediffusion/Maxwell and Metro had already got rid of. I worked for a company that was taken over by them and shortly after they bought NTL and used the name because it was better known in the business community.

The original ntl Broadcast and Radio employees were generally not very impressed with the bunch of amateur cowboys that had taken them over. Cabletel management changed contracts of employments and tried lots of tricks to get them to loose their benefits that stemmed from their government owned days.

I wonder if any of the original ntl employees have changed their minds and think the treatment of employees has improved?

I suppose we could really say that Rediffusion/British Cable Services/ British CableTV/Maxwell CableTV/Metro Cable TV were the original operators, only they never actually built anything on a large scale.

[Stu038]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

think it was diamond cable in leicester or cable and wireless, and those days were so much better,

Started as Leicester Communications Limited in 90/91, rebranded to Leicester Cable Limited a couple of years later and then again to LCL (the first MSO to go into the black) when they were bought out by Nottingham based Diamond Cable. Who were eventually bought out by ntl.

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

Also had that split screen channel which showed all the channels.

Yes the loss of the Montage was a shame but it had to go to make way for the digital channels.

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Escapee

The original ntl Broadcast and Radio employees were generally not very impressed with the bunch of amateur cowboys that had taken them over.

Funny that, before NTL took over Cambridge Cable it was well known here by the alternative names Cowboy Cable or Cambridge Cowboys!

[Mr_Burns]

Originally Posted by Escapee

I wonder if any of the original ntl employees have changed their minds and think the treatment of employees has improved?

If it's possible it's got worse

[Dave Stones]

Originally Posted by kronas

i can still remember when the idiot contracters cut our power supply

should have seen what they did in dewsbury then. straight through the main water main to the town, about 100ft high geyser

they didn't do anything by me, except dig up a newly laid pavement and road to put their trenches in...

was NTL Cabletel by the way, thats what it says on the socket

[Mal]

Originally Posted by Dave Stones

should have seen what they did in dewsbury then. straight through the main water main to the town, about 100ft high geyser

they didn't do anything by me, except dig up a newly laid pavement and road to put their trenches in...

was NTL Cabletel by the way, thats what it says on the socket

When Nynex did our area, they were always cutting the power lines, Norweb had a van on patrol because of it. They used to block shop doorways and driveways with the trenches.

[kronas]

Originally Posted by Dave Stones

should have seen what they did in dewsbury then. straight through the main water main to the town, about 100ft high geyser

Originally Posted by Dave Stones

they didn't do anything by me, except dig up a newly laid pavement and road to put their trenches in...

lucky git

Originally Posted by Dave Stones

was NTL Cabletel by the way, thats what it says on the socket

indeed it was.

[altis]

Not sure how up-to-date it is but here is a list of postcodes for ex Cable and Wireless areas that I cribbed from .com
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/altisuk/temp/xcwc.txt

[andrew_wallasey]

We didnt have any problems, it was as if Nynex had never been within a few days.

[DeadKenny]

Originally Posted by Proppinupthebar

The original Cabletel areas were Kirklees, Luton, Guildford, Belfast, Cardiff, Swansea and Glasgow.

I assume it's the same with the others mentioned here, but Guildford is Guildford and surrounding areas. e.g. Woking is original CableTel and I know it extends into several other towns in the area.

I was on CableTel in Guildford back in 1997, moved to Woking and got CableTel there (after much hassle ), then CableTel bought into NTL and the bills started saying CableTel/NTL, then they started buying other franchises until finally buying old Cable & Wireless franchises. At some point (I forget when) they dropped the other names and it all became just NTL.

Standard of service between CableTel and NTL over the years has been as always shockingly bad, so if you wonder where their reputation comes from, it's CableTel .

[Stephen Robb]

Reading started out with Telecentral in 1994, changed to Comtel about 97/98 and ended up as ntl: about 00/01!

[Pierre]

Standard of service between CableTel and NTL over the years has been as always shockingly bad, so if you wonder where their reputation comes from, it's CableTel .

Cabletel actually was one of the better performing cable companies and had a very high penetration rate and very little churn.

At some point (I forget when) they dropped the other names and it all became just NTL.

1999

Reading started out with Telecentral in 1994,

Telecential