Clane Cable Systems to be taken over by UPC - Sunday Business Post

icdg

Today's Sunday Business Post reports that UPC is taking out minnow Clane Cable Systems which operates a small analogue-only network in Clane, County Kildare. The deal is subject to Competition Authority approval but is unlikely to be blocked. It will give UPC another 2,000 customers.

For as long as the NTL / Chorus nominal divide remains, the network will be run as part of NTL (unusual, since it is surrounded by Chorus on all sides, but perhaps reflecting the fact that UPC is moving Chorus towards the NTL product line up and not the other direction).

Wonder if this means that UPC will move towards hovering up the remaining small analogue-only operators (who did not trade in their licences for digital ones when the 1999 Regulations were introduced). The other obstacle in the way of a fully national UPC is Casey Cablevision in Dungarvan, who have a digital licence.

Sponge Bob

and the peoples republic of Longford

Mossy Monk

icdg wrote:

The other obstacle in the way of a fully national UPC is Casey Cablevision in Dungarvan, who have a digital licence.

I am praying to God that UPC never get their grubby mits on them.

watty

Also now SCTV who are effectively an MMDS based cable company on 11.5GHz. Is there another one near Cavan as well as Longford.

The BCI website should have a list as now only content is regulated, Comreg has no interest any more.

spockety

do cable co's need a licence to operate?

watty

All their channels need BCI licences.

Actually being a cable operator is no longer regulated by Comreg, other than MMDS Spectrum.

spockety

Is there a list of BCI licensed stations online anywhere?
Had a gander on their web site, but I couldn't find reference to TV stations other than TV3.

The context of the question would be in relation to a cable company taking feeds of channels from a Sky dish, RF modulating them and distributing them. Can you assume that if a channel is on the Sky platform that it has a BCI license, or would that be outside their remit, and each channel must have a cable BCI license?

icdg

watty wrote:

Also now SCTV who are effectively an MMDS based cable company on 11.5GHz. Is there another one near Cavan as well as Longford.

UPC now own all the 1999-issued MMDS licences, covering the entire country. SCTV's one operates on different frequencies and in the same areas UPC already have licences for. The MMDS licences issued in 1999 are still valid, unlike the cable ones which have been replaced by general authorisations.

The BCI website should have a list as now only content is regulated, Comreg has no interest any more.

A "general authorisation" from Comreg is still required for cable.

watty

spockety wrote:

The context of the question would be in relation to a cable company taking feeds of channels from a Sky dish, RF modulating them and distributing them. Can you assume that if a channel is on the Sky platform that it has a BCI license, or would that be outside their remit, and each channel must have a cable BCI license?

No. Sky does not need or have any Irish authorisation for anything. It's a foreign service. You can assume that if a channel is on UPC Ireland (ex Chorus/NTL) that it has BCI licence.

There are THREE kinds of channel for a cable company

* Free To Carry: You tell the supplier and they say OK and you carry it.

* Must Carry: Generally free to cable company, but you must carry it to be allowed to operate at all. RTE, TV3 & TG4. MMDS was exempt for some must carry channels due to low capacity.

* Pay: You must either agree a percentage of your subscribers or a fixed fee. BBC, C4, ITV4 is a fixed inexpensive annual fee. Sky Sports will be based on the size of your operation and is not cheap. Sky don't like providing authorisation for their channels via satellite (You use a Tandberg Satellite Receiver which provides a decrypted MPEG2 TS.).

There is no logic to SCTV licence for their 11.7GHz MMDS. AFAIK Comreg cable authorisation is not problematic.

You can't use multiple Sky boxes and distribute in a Apartment or Hotel via RF without a special contract with Sky. It's €x,000s a month. Far better is a Quattro LNB and distribute the IF signals + TV aerial signal to each apartment. Then people use a FTA or Sky box, their own subscription. Better quality and no Licences or Contracts needed. Communal reception rather than cable TV.

spockety

watty wrote:

No. Sky does not need or have any Irish authorisation for anything. It's a foreign service. You can assume that if a channel is on UPC Ireland (ex Chorus/NTL) that it has BCI licence.

There are THREE kinds of channel for a cable company

* Free To Carry: You tell the supplier and they say OK and you carry it.

* Must Carry: Generally free to cable company, but you must carry it to be allowed to operate at all. RTE, TV3 & TG4. MMDS was exempt for some must carry channels due to low capacity.

* Pay: You must either agree a percentage of your subscribers or a fixed fee. BBC, C4, ITV4 is a fixed inexpensive annual fee. Sky Sports will be based on the size of your operation and is not cheap. Sky don't like providing authorisation for their channels via satellite (You use a Tandberg Satellite Receiver which provides a decrypted MPEG2 TS.).

There is no logic to SCTV licence for their 11.7GHz MMDS. AFAIK Comreg cable authorisation is not problematic.

You can't use multiple Sky boxes and distribute in a Apartment or Hotel via RF without a special contract with Sky. It's €x,000s a month. Far better is a Quattro LNB and distribute the IF signals + TV aerial signal to each apartment. Then people use a FTA or Sky box, their own subscription. Better quality and no Licences or Contracts needed. Communal reception rather than cable TV.

Definitely a communal receiver is ideal.
However, it's not an option in apartment complex developments where the developer has given a monopoly to a shoddy small time cowboy cable operator who is doing nothing except distributing 20 channels of analogue RF cable throughout the buildings from a shed on the roof with a dish, a UHF aerial, and presumably a bank of Sky boxes.

Just basically looking for angles with which to beat the developer into allowing us to get Sky in to put communal dishes out of sight on the roof so that we are not stuck with this 1980's analog tech. Finding out that this cowboy operator is doing something wrong/illegal would be handy information.

>:|

watty

Sky prefers Communal (and may even subsidise) and will happily sue the Development company for sharing the o/p of a Sky box. One 90cm dish can feed over 1000 receivers with 4 satellites and be Sky, Sky+ and SkyHD compatible.

bringoutthegimp

Sky have said get 5 residents to sign up and they will arrange for free installation of a communal dish and all associated wiring runs..

Wonder how to find out if _COWBOY CABLE_ are authorized by Sky to re-distribute the output of a sky box...?

s_gr

Depends where in the country you are living? Have a look here www.skyhomes.ie for registered communal installers.

spockety

Communal Sky is not the same thing as Re-distributed Sky by analogue cable.

watty

spockety wrote:

Communal Sky is not the same thing as Re-distributed Sky by analogue cable.

Nothing like. The 1st the viewers have their own sat boxes and get same as if they had a personal dish. The 2nd is rubbish picture quality, limited channels, no HD, no stereo, usually illegal theft of service (one card/sub for all viewers). Up to 6 months in jail. Not regarded as just copyright infringement. The Analogue RF distribution can be legal, but since it is cheaper to put in a communal dish ...