New price changes announced for ntl

celticfc

I seen this on ntl's website this morning:

mike65

Not happy but could have been worse, given the kind of hikes the ESB, an Post etc are pushing though...and whats more Waterford and Galway customers pay the same and get about 10 channels less for the previlege...

Mike.

PhoenixRising

Not happy here either, and the M50 tolls are going up aswell ! :mad:

SteM

Given the extra channels we got on NTL Digital during the year it doesn't bother me too much.

vibe666

it doesn't bother you too much eh?

go and have a look at how many channels sky customers get for the same price, and then have a look at skys monthly magazine, sky plus, sky box office etc etc etc and then look again at how much you are paying compared to the cost of sky.

i'd be surprised if ntl have 2/3's of the channels sky does and we don't have any kind of monthly magazine (would it really be such a big deal to put one together between the uk and ireland?) or any of the advanced features that sky does.

the epg is crap on ntl, and there is no box office to save you going to the video shop.

not to mention how dire ntl tech support is.

SteM

Originally posted by vibe666
it doesn't bother you too much eh?

go and have a look at how many channels sky customers get for the same price, and then have a look at skys monthly magazine, sky plus, sky box office etc etc etc and then look again at how much you are paying compared to the cost of sky.

i'd be surprised if ntl have 2/3's of the channels sky does and we don't have any kind of monthly magazine (would it really be such a big deal to put one together between the uk and ireland?) or any of the advanced features that sky does.

the epg is crap on ntl, and there is no box office to save you going to the video shop.

not to mention how dire ntl tech support is.

No, it doesn't bother me. Am I not allowed to post my personal opinion here?

I have a subscription to Digiguide and have seen all of the channels on the Sky epg, and there aren't that many that I'd be bothered with. I don't care about Sky. I can't get it as I'm in apartment and the dishes are allowed up, so it's pointless me even looking at them. So what if Sky have more channels, NTL digital have all of the digital channels that I would watch. Sky+ would be handy but I don't mind using a combination of digiguide and my vcr. I wouldn't want to pay extra for Sky+ anyway tbh.

I have a video shop right beside me and don't think I've ever used it, so again no box office doesn't bother me.

Do you have NTL? If you're this annoyed by them then I'd consider you move over to the Sky platform. I've had 1 tech support issue since installation and it's been sorted quite quickly but I understand that they are generally very poor.

The TV Licence hike next year annoys me much more than the NTL digital price hike.

vibe666

Originally posted by SteM
No, it doesn't bother me. Am I not allowed to post my personal opinion here?

dont get me wrong, i didn't mean it quitelike that. i guess it didn't come out right.

yes i am an ntl customer, and ok, so most of the extra channels are crap, but atleast they are there.

i'm not saying i don't have plenty to watch, i'm saying that ntl are charging the same price for half the service you'd get with sky.

i live in an apartment block, so i can't have sky either and it's a pain in the hole. if i could switch i would, but i can't so i'm stuck with ntl if i want any choice at all.

i wasn't having a go at you, i was having a go at them for being crap.

SteM

Hey, I'm not happy about the increase, but as mike65 said it could have been worse. I'd agree they're not the best company in the world, but I try not to get wound up by every little thing that I'm feeling ripped off about (if I did then living in this country would kill me ). I think NTL Digital in Dublin are okay.

Now if I was an NTL customer in Waterford or Galway and paying the same amount as the Dubs but getting less channels, that would really drive me mad.

Winters

Originally posted by vibe666
it doesn't bother you too much eh?

go and have a look at how many channels sky customers get for the same price, and then have a look at skys monthly magazine, sky plus, sky box office etc etc etc and then look again at how much you are paying compared to the cost of sky.

But look at the amount of crappy TV channels that SKY have. How many people want to watch one of like 20 God channels? Or watch like 5 differant travel channels?

Its not about quantity but quality. Give me BBC Digital [whaever its called, Freeview?] over SKy anyday. BBC/Freeview will have a lot more quality shows on for free then what SKY offer. Really all people have sky for is some music channels, movie chanels and also that bit o' sport.

cgarvey

Are we not meant to be informed, in writing, of any change in price? Has anyone recevied any such notification?

.cg

vibe666

not yet, but i'm sure we will.

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by vibe666
go and have a look at how many channels sky customers get for the same price, and then have a look at skys monthly magazine, sky plus, sky box office etc etc etc

there is a lot of channels on Sky that cost subscribers nothing seeing as they are FTA

i wouldnt count that rag Sky send out as a benefit of my subscription

Sky+ costs €299 for the equipment and then another €15/month for the extra features (free if you take more than 1 of Sky's premium channels)

Sky Box Office is a rip off so you arent missing out on much there

Mike 1972

How many people want to watch one of like 20 God channels?

Sometimes they can be great entertainment

crawler

I have to be careful here

My biggest problems with Sky ( which I have ) are :-

The cost of €70 that they charge for engineer call outs and that they charged me €150 for a new digibox - ntl provide services and replacement for free.

Sky changed their customer support from an 1800 number to a national rate 0818 number.

They now charge £1.50 STG to book a box office film by telephone...

Sky's mag is an advertising marketing media machine - not designed for the love of customers...

so to say the service is the same is simply not true - ntl are most certainly not perfect but Sky in "real" terms are a lot more expensive.

I agree , give me a decent FTA product and I'd be gone like a light!

Mike 1972

The cable industry in Ireland seems to be hell bent on suicide.

With UTV now on $ky along with the FTA BBC's the only arguments for having cable are
1) Apartment dwellers who cant put up a dish (very small market and in any case groups within a building could band together and set up a communal dish system)
2) UK channels on analouge for VCR timeshifting ($ky are eroding that selling point)
3) Channel 4 (who is going to get cable for the sake of Ch 4 though especially with grey market FTV cards available ?)
4) Broadband/Telephony (which is practically non existant in most parts of the Republic)

cgarvey

Originally posted by Mike 1972
1) Apartment dwellers who cant put up a dish (very small market and in any case groups within a building could band together and set up a communal dish system)

Well, there's alot of apartments, and lots of rented accommodation where you can't put up dishes. I wouldn't think its "very small market".

Usually its not practical for an apartment block to organise a communal install. Maybe the property developer could, but ntl just seems easier to manage to them I presume.. put in some basic wiring and let ntl deal with all connections/billing/problems.

"5)" Should be rented accommodation. Most leases (all I've seen anyway) specifically mention not to put up dishes.

"6)" Should be planning permission, which is beginning to become an issue (there's another thread about that)

.cg

SteM

Mike 1972, The next time you're walking through Dublin just look above shops on most streets - you'll be surprised how many apartments you're passing by without noticing. The rental market in Dublin is huge now and will get bigger as less people can afford to buy. It's not feasible for many people who are on an 6/12 month lease to band together with other people on a 6/12 to arrange a communal dish, and thats even if they can get permission from property managment companies, owners etc.

Also, there's a lot of people of my parents generation who can't understand the fact you can only watch or record one channel at a time on Sky (unless you fork out extra for Sky+ which a lot are not willing to do). They've gotten used to multi channel/multi room viewing and are happy with the channels cable TV supplies.

ColinM

Originally posted by vibe666
the epg is crap on ntl, and there is no box office to save you going to the video shop.

Don't ntl have the Sky Box Office equivalent called Front Row, or is that only in the UK?

The epg is so bad it makes Sky's look good.

SteM

I think Front Row has been dropped here hasn't it?

cgarvey

Originally posted by SteM
I think Front Row has been dropped here hasn't it?

yup
.cg

spockety

As for the question of why you would want cable over satellite digital..

The answer for many lies in the fact that we have big families, lots of rooms, and lots of TV's.. god bless NTL analogue multi room viewing...

dub45

With UTV now on $ky along with the FTA BBC's

I did not know this was available - how does one tune it in?

Mossy Monk

it's not available. it was for a few hours though a couple of weeks back