Sky Q

jca

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

I received my invitation this morning by email :

€99 for the Sky Q silver (up-front cost)

€99 for an additional mini Q (up-front cost)

€50 for installation charge (up-front cost)

- - - - -

A new viewing card will be posted to me

My monthly subscription costs will REDUCE by €42 even though I'm keeping all channels + services

How much is your monthly cost? Are the one off charges a special deal or is that what everyone will be paying?

Butters1979

So after holding off on a decision for TV provider waiting for today I see this on their website.

18 month minimum subscription. Set up costs may apply. Sky Q available now to Sky Broadband customers. Coming soon to customer with broadband from other providers

So because I'm with UPC for broadband I can't order this? The only reason I didn't go with Sky broadband (besides their lower speed) is that I couldn't order it without a landline. Anyone hear any rumours when this will be available for the rest of the country? I'm starting to think Sky are no longer a reasonable option.

Butters1979

edit: double post.

AMGer

Ordered my Sky Q this morning. Recently switched from UPC broadband to Sky due to the Netflix issue. Installation date is Feb 29th. Went for the Silver box.
I was under the impression you could still get Sky Q if you were with another ISP - you just had to fork out 300 euro for the box/installation

AMGer

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

My monthly subscription costs will REDUCE by €42 even though I'm keeping all channels + services

How is it reduced? We currently pay 135/month for the TV, Broadband & phone, it'll be up to 148/month with the Sky Q.

greendom

AMGer wrote: »

How is it reduced? We currently pay 135/month for the TV, Broadband & phone, it'll be up to 148/month with the Sky Q.

multi-room subscription I imagine ?

Dave_Dublin

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

My monthly subscription costs will REDUCE by €42 even though I'm keeping all channels + services

I currently have 2× Sky+ HD boxes, so the removal of the "multiscreen" charge at a cost of €15 per month extra is one saving.

Current monthly cost is €155.50 with movies+sports+broadband+talk but, because of the "Sky Q silver bundle" it'll only cost €113.50 once installed so really it was a no-brainer for me...

I'll also be able to watch different channels in THREE rooms, which is something I've wanted for a while but was unwilling to pay ANOTHER €15 per month to do

Dave_Dublin

jca wrote: »

How much is your monthly cost? Are the one off charges a special deal or is that what everyone will be paying?

My current monthly costs are €155.50

The €99 one-off charge applies to current Sky broadband customers as far as I know -or- those who TAKE Sky broadband at the same time they order Sky Q

douglasman

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

I currently have 2× Sky+ HD boxes, so the removal of the "multiscreen" charge at a cost of €15 per month extra is one saving.

Current monthly cost is €155.50 with movies+sports+broadband+talk but, because of the "Sky Q silver bundle" it'll only cost €113.50 once installed so really it was a no-brainer for me...

I'll also be able to watch different channels in THREE rooms, which is something I've wanted for a while but was unwilling to pay ANOTHER €15 per month to do

The Sky Q Silver Bundle does not include the Sky Broadband cost which will be 35 euro extra for Sky TV customers, so your actual bill will be 148.50, still a saving of 7 euro and you get the extra boxes you want, but I knew you got your sums wrong with the charges as it didn't make any sense.

AMGer

douglasman wrote: »

The Sky Q Silver Bundle does not include the Sky Broadband cost which will be 35 euro extra for Sky TV customers, so your actual bill will be 148.50, still a saving of 7 euro and you get the extra boxes you want, but I knew you got your sums wrong with the charges as it didn't make any sense.

makes sense, 148.50 is what I'll be paying aswell

MarkAnthony

Butters1979 wrote: »

So after holding off on a decision for TV provider waiting for today I see this on their website.

18 month minimum subscription. Set up costs may apply. Sky Q available now to Sky Broadband customers. Coming soon to customer with broadband from other providers

So because I'm with UPC for broadband I can't order this? The only reason I didn't go with Sky broadband (besides their lower speed) is that I couldn't order it without a landline. Anyone hear any rumours when this will be available for the rest of the country? I'm starting to think Sky are no longer a reasonable option.

Virgin use a legacy copper co-ax system designed for Cable TV. Eir (and everyone else) use a copper system designed for telephone. None of these services are designed for broadband.

Why am I saying this? It's a pet hate of mine that people think they're getting some magical pixie dust solution that doesn't use a telephone line - every one but UPC are using a telephone line solution. They have to supply the service via the cable so you'll always pay line rental. Now if it's simply a case you cant control your teenage children/wife/self with the landline fair enough, but I wish people would stop making out their somehow done by having to take a landline. Sky are a victim of their own honesty by bundling the stupifd fecking thing, just do what Voda and Eir do and pretend it's not there, then it is.

/rant

PS had Virgin (gah!) BB myself until today, SkyQ pushed me over the edge. I can survive on 92Mbits v 240.

AMGer wrote: »

Ordered my Sky Q this morning. Recently switched from UPC broadband to Sky due to the Netflix issue. Installation date is Feb 29th. Went for the Silver box.
I was under the impression you could still get Sky Q if you were with another ISP - you just had to fork out 300 euro for the box/installation

That's how it will work shortly. The other option is to take a premium (Sports and or Movies) to reduce the install cost. The only reason they're not rolling it out to non sky BB customers is during testing some of the meshing was a bit janky on other broadband and they're wanting to get that right. What's worse? An Horizon style arse up with stuff not working properly, or Sky looking a bit exclusive for a couple of weeks?

I have a sneaking suspicion this all go brought forward a few weeks to capitalise on Virgin's price increase and the fact that people could break contracts.

douglasman wrote: »

The Sky Q Silver Bundle does not include the Sky Broadband cost which will be 35 euro extra for Sky TV customers, so your actual bill will be 148.50, still a saving of 7 euro and you get the extra boxes you want, but I knew you got your sums wrong with the charges as it didn't make any sense.

No discounts on BB for SkyQ customers so ADSL is €40 and Fibre is €50 if you're switching.

All part of the new 'treating existing customers better than new ones' push.

Andy454

This equipment is not actually yours to keep:

http://www.sky.com/ireland/tv/sky-q/explore/

General: Sky Q kit loaned to you at no cost and must be returned at end relevant subscription. Content depends on subscription. Connect to TV using HDMI (supplied or reused). Prices may go up during your contract. You own the Sky dish.

They aren't going to discount existing subscribers with multiroom or HD:

Sky Q discount not available to existing Sky Multiscreen or HD customers

So you subscribe for 18 months and pay 249euro and you don't own the equipment - bit of a rip off!

Red Button and BBC on demand content unavailable via Sky Q app. Save selected recordings from last 90 days to compatible tablet connected to home broadband to watch offline. Transfer speed depends on device and connection. Content deleted from tablet 48 hours after viewing starts or no later than 30 days after syncing. Finished recordings may be unavailable to sync for up to a few hours. Two syncs/downloads per programme.

What happens if you want to keep your existing setup or just replace one box?

MarkAnthony

Pretty much thought everyone knew Sky weren't giving the equipment. It's a change to the current model many wanted as they now look after the kit rather than selling it.

I think the oddity of SkyQ not being discounted is being looked at. SkyQ silver is still discounted. I can understand MS customers not being discounted as they are technically downgrading but HD? Very odd.

The idea is you don't just sub for 18 months. Clearly a strategy on Sky's part to stop people riding offers.

SkyQ replaces Sky+ it doesn't run alongside it except in very limited circumstances as a temporary work around. SkyQ 'selected recordings' is currently 98%+ from what I'm told.

Incidentally the only thing the Irish version is v the UK one is much cheaper for set up.

Atlantic Dawn

Is there anywhere demonstrating it now? Would normal Sky sales stands at Stephens Green and Pavillions Swords have it setup? I'd like to see it in the flesh before committing.

MarkAnthony

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Is there anywhere demonstrating it now? Would normal Sky sales stands at Stephens Green and Pavillions Swords have it setup? I'd like to see it in the flesh before committing.

Friday for retail. It's been a soft launch so far, proper launch is this weekend.

The Ayatolla

Not liking the part about not owning equipment.

Prefer my rolling offers with Sky and being able to negotiate every 6-12 months. I tend to stay away from deals with any company that have 18 month contracts.

MarkAnthony

The Ayatolla wrote: »

Not liking the part about not owning equipment.

Prefer my rolling offers with Sky and being able to negotiate every 6-12 months. I tend to stay away from deals with any company that have 18 month contracts.

You can still do that on Sky+ but the SkyQ platform and model might have been specifically developed with certain things in mind :pac:

The Ayatolla

MarkAnthony wrote: »

You can still do that on Sky+ but the SkyQ platform and model might have been specifically developed with certain things in mind :pac:

Sky+ for the foreseeable then.

I can still see them offering reductions at the end of your 18-month Sky Q term, just give your 30 days notice and they'll still offer similar discounts. 30% off, 50% off for X months etc. May also only be 12 month contracts after the initial 18 months.

Niemoj

So SkyQ is available now in Ireland and GB subject to a lengthy 18 month contract.

Prices in Ireland are €55 and €67 a month.

Prices in GB are £42 and £54 a month.

That means for once, at least on the more expensive package Ireland is cheaper!

notahappycamper

Sky customer with HD multiroom since 2006. I think that since UHD is the future it is strange that it's limited to 1 room in the house. Also, multiroom is dependent on your internal wifi and the wifi booster/Sky Q hub will only work with Sky BB. I think they should have looked at Sky Q Silver boxes being available to those who wanted them. No real advantage in this if you are an existing Sky customer with multiroom and/or using the magic eye as well. The only real "step up" would be the UHD but that's only available on 1 box. Viewing on multiple devices - meh. Recording more programmes at once, ok if it's a problem that people have often enough. Does not make sense for existing customers to upgrade IMHO.

jones

notahappycamper wrote: »

Sky customer with HD multiroom since 2006. I think that since UHD is the future it is strange that it's limited to 1 room in the house. Also, multiroom is dependent on your internal wifi and the wifi booster/Sky Q hub will only work with Sky BB. I think they should have looked at Sky Q Silver boxes being available to those who wanted them. No real advantage in this if you are an existing Sky customer with multiroom and/or using the magic eye as well. The only real "step up" would be the UHD but that's only available on 1 box. Viewing on multiple devices - meh. Recording more programmes at once, ok if it's a problem that people have often enough. Does not make sense for existing customers to upgrade IMHO.

Totally agree. I'm in a similar position to yourself with Sky since 2006 and have HD and multiroom since its inception. My broadband is with Eir and having just gotten efibre i'm in a contract for the next 6 months so i couldn't even upgrade if i wanted to.

The UHD issue is strange i dont know why they would cripple the system like that. Unless its bandwidth restriction. I would like to see how the Q box handles 1080p (as opposed to the 1080i we currently have as HD)

I have 64" plasma thats 1080p as my main tv and i wont be upgrading for a long time so UHD doesn't really bother me that much. All in all very little reason for me to upgrade at this time. I already have a 2TB sky box and mutiroom and magic eye so basically 3 rooms are serviced.

Another thing i picked up when talking to sky was they are charging €99 for the mini boxes but only if you order at time of sky purchase...if you add them at a later stage they are €149 per mini box which seems a bit of a rip off to me.

murpho999

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Virgin use a legacy copper co-ax system designed for Cable TV. Eir (and everyone else) use a copper system designed for telephone. None of these services are designed for broadband.

Why am I saying this? It's a pet hate of mine that people think they're getting some magical pixie dust solution that doesn't use a telephone line - every one but UPC are using a telephone line solution. They have to supply the service via the cable so you'll always pay line rental. Now if it's simply a case you cant control your teenage children/wife/self with the landline fair enough, but I wish people would stop making out their somehow done by having to take a landline. Sky are a victim of their own honesty by bundling the stupifd fecking thing, just do what Voda and Eir do and pretend it's not there, then it is.

/rant

PS had.

This is not true about Virgin/UPC, they have invested a lot over the years and network is fibre optic.

MarkAnthony

murpho999 wrote: »

This is not true about Virgin/UPC, they have invested a lot over the years and network is fibre optic.

It's not. You only need to look at the cables. It's fibre backhauled like Eir.

digiman

MarkAnthony wrote: »

It's not. You only need to look at the cables. It's fibre backhauled like Eir.

This is true, however the VM cable network has a lot more legs in it than Eir's copper network and can't be compared at all. VM already offer 360Mb/s and with Docsis 3.1 will be upgradeable to well beyond 1Gb/s. It's not as good as fibre to the home, but it's not fair to compare to xDSL.

MarkAnthony

The Ayatolla wrote: »

Sky+ for the foreseeable then.

I can still see them offering reductions at the end of your 18-month Sky Q term, just give your 30 days notice and they'll still offer similar discounts. 30% off, 50% off for X months etc. May also only be 12 month contracts after the initial 18 months.

I doubt it. I expect Sky will be more than happy for you to cancel and reorder with a similar upfront fee to what you paid at launch. Yes I can see offers creeping in, but SkyQ is going to be there to secure long term loyal customers, that's evident in the upfront costs v continuous costs of Sky+. SkyQ rewards longer term subscribers whereas Sky+ (still way a head of the competition) will be used as a value model.

digiman wrote: »

This is true, however the VM cable network has a lot more legs in it than Eir's copper network and can't be compared at all. VM already offer 360Mb/s and with Docsis 3.1 will be upgradeable to well beyond 1Gb/s. It's not as good as fibre to the home, but it's not fair to compare to xDSL.

VM's network (bar netflix :pac:) is a brilliant network, copper-co ax is way better than what Eir have. It's not even much worse than having fibre directly into the home. However it doesn't alter the fact that you're still paying a 'line rental' even on VM. That line, doesn't carry a phone signal by design like the Eir network, but that's no reason to dismiss the Eir network if it meets your bandwidth needs.

My point is this is the basis for some people decisions because they somehow feel conned by having a phone line. UPC had very much undersold their products as evidenced by a huge increase in monthly cost to generate reasonable profits in Ireland.

I was a NTL/UPC/VM customer for over 15 years between here and Scotland, I'll survive on 92Mbits, I'd love 240/360 but it gets to a point where other factors become more important than speed into the box.

The Ayatolla

MarkAnthony wrote: »

I doubt it. I expect Sky will be more than happy for you to cancel and reorder with a similar upfront fee to what you paid at launch. Yes I can see offers creeping in, but SkyQ is going to be there to secure long term loyal customers, that's evident in the upfront costs v continuous costs of Sky+. SkyQ rewards longer term subscribers whereas Sky+ (still way a head of the competition) will be used as a value model.

My buddies working for Sky have been telling me the same for years. "you won't get any offers if you cancel "

Every company gives "loyalty" offers and Sky are no different. And this Sky Q will be no different as well. Wait and see. The old 30 days notice trick works like a charm every single time. I don't think i've paid full price for Sky in about 5-6 years.

Andy454

Its such a pity you can't keep your existing multi-room boxes!

Currently have two dishes serving 4 boxes, I'd change two of the boxes (living room and bedroom) to sky Q silver and multiscreen, but I would like to keep the current sky hd boxes in the kitchen and folks bedroom as they've just gotten used to operating the current planner and like it just the way it is.

I myself would prefer to move on, but not if the system is too restricted.

I'm guessing this box will be absolutely useless if you cancel your sub after 18 months - while I've had sky for 10 years and likely to keep it long into the future, I still would prefer the option to dump it and use the equipment fta...

It also annoys me that equipment that is still in good working order is rendered useless just because the provider no longer wishes to support it - it is such an incredible waste of our natural resources and planet pollutant!

I'm guessing this unit will be totally locked down - cancel and the box will be a paper weight!

MarkAnthony

The Ayatolla wrote: »

My buddies working for Sky have been telling me the same for years. "you won't get any offers if you cancel "

Every company gives "loyalty" offers and Sky are no different. And this Sky Q will be no different as well. Wait and see. The old 30 days notice trick works like a charm every single time. I don't think i've paid full price for Sky in about 5-6 years.

We'll see. I'm not privy to the cancellation strategy. I've also seen Sky go down the line of trying to break the offer riding cycle with BB - it didn't work. However what I can tell you is this is the first time there has been this drastic a change to the Sky sales model since the service launched 20+ years ago.

The lack of owned equipment, the upfront fee and the fact that you won't be able to cancel and re-order due to broadband make riding offer much harder. Okay so use a third party broadband provider, gotcha there too as the upfronts are €200 higher.

I'm sure people will find ways and ways - however it's been made much more difficult for SkyQ and that's by design. Of course there's nothing to stop you continuing business as usual on Sky+ and no one is going to try and close that off.

Edit: Also pretty ****ty buddies if they didn't tell you when the sweet offers were on over a pint! :pac:

MarkAnthony

Andy454 wrote: »

Its such a pity you can't keep your existing multi-room boxes!

Currently have two dishes serving 4 boxes, I'd change two of the boxes (living room and bedroom) to sky Q silver and multiscreen, but I would like to keep the current sky hd boxes in the kitchen and folks bedroom as they've just gotten used to operating the current planner and like it just the way it is.

I myself would prefer to move on, but not if the system is too restricted.

I'm guessing this box will be absolutely useless if you cancel your sub after 18 months - while I've had sky for 10 years and likely to keep it long into the future, I still would prefer the option to dump it and use the equipment fta...

It also annoys me that equipment that is still in good working order is rendered useless just because the provider no longer wishes to support it - it is such an incredible waste of our natural resources and planet pollutant!

I'm guessing this unit will be totally locked down - cancel and the box will be a paper weight!

It won;t be your paper weight either unless you pay the non-return fee.

Andy454

MarkAnthony wrote: »

VM's network (bar netflix :pac:) is a brilliant network, copper-co ax is way better than what Eir have. It's not even much worse than having fibre directly into the home. However it doesn't alter the fact that you're still paying a 'line rental' even on VM. That line, doesn't carry a phone signal by design like the Eir network, but that's no reason to dismiss the Eir network if it meets your bandwidth needs.

My point is this is the basis for some people decisions because they somehow feel conned by having a phone line. UPC had very much undersold their products as evidenced by a huge increase in monthly cost to generate reasonable profits in Ireland.

I was a NTL/UPC/VM customer for over 15 years between here and Scotland, I'll survive on 92Mbits, I'd love 240/360 but it gets to a point where other factors become more important than speed into the box.

I caught sight of a VM business crew installing network near Fitzwilliam street - they're still installing coax - I would have thought they'd be moving toward fibre to the building in areas with over ground network

There needs to be a push from the communications regulator to get operators to get on with rolling out fibre to the building - other than emergency maintenance / repairs, no operator should be still installing coax into buildings anymore.