What exactly is this digital service NTL will launch

LegacyUser

what exactly is this ervice to be launched,

LegacyUser

Ermm, you could do worse that checking out the NTL listing on ICDG

LegacyUser

Ermm, you could do worse that checking out the NTL listing on ICDG

LegacyUser

thats pretty ed***,
any idea were they will launch it

LegacyUser

Taken from ICDG:

---

"Something approaching the full ntl:digitalplus service will be available in upgraded areas such as Tallaght, Terenure, Clondalkin, and Coolock. Phase II will be available in upgraded areas next year."

LegacyUser

I think hes asking what channels wil be available.Id say all the old ones,plus Nat Geo will be back along with Discovery.Id also imagine they would have more bandwith to include CNN picture rather than just the audio.

LegacyUser

question, will i get these for free, of will i pay more, hell i hardly watch the thing

LegacyUser

gladiator.. you surprise me!!

do you really think that you will get that for free !!
hello !!! welcome to the yr 2001 > nothing is free !!

sorry just bursted your bubble!

---

Jessica

LegacyUser

actually yes, i pay far to much as it is for the **** sations i get, i should get at least dubble the stations i have with no extra coast,

LegacyUser

Subscribe to Sky directly...OK its £36 a month for their full package, but you'll get all the channels in perfect quality and as they come out (anyone remember how long it took for NTL - then Cablelink - to add Sky Movies Gold to the lineup, and don't get me started on the "missing" sky channels incident that occured years back).

PS: No I dont work for Sky or one of their retailers..just a satisfied customer

LegacyUser

no can do, i have the internet with ntl which is great,

allso sky digital phone things, i really rather not have my tv ringing up numbers

LegacyUser

in the small print of the sky contract it states that you must have your phone plugged in to the digi set top box if not it is a breach of contract!

but kaiser u own your set top box - what happens if something goes wrong with that box ??? what is skys service like to change out that box and how much will it cost you ?

---

Jessica

LegacyUser

Jessica: I got the box under their "£50 install & free box" offer back in October so any problems with it is covered for the first year...so far, the only problems I've had have been related to the Personal Planner/New EPG update that Sky rolled out reently, although (luckily) such problems have been fairly infrequent so that it doesn't bother me too much (no software is perfect, right?).

As for the phone line issue - the only time it "calls back" to Sky is for Interactive features (most of which arent available here in the Republic yet anyway so again that's not really a concern for me.

I'm not saying that Sky are perfect but I have to say that in my opinion, the service they provide is (and always has been) FAR superior to Cablelinks/NTLs.

LegacyUser

Jessica: I got the box under their "£50 install & free box" offer back in October so any problems with it are covered for the first year...so far, the only problems I've had have been related to the Personal Planner/New EPG update that Sky rolled out reently, although (luckily) such problems have been fairly infrequent so that it doesn't bother me too much (no software is perfect, right?)

As for the phone line issue - the only time it "calls back" to Sky is for Interactive features (most of which arent available here in the Republic yet anyway so again that's not really a concern for me).

I'm not saying that Sky are perfect but I have to say that in my opinion, the service they provide is (and always has been) FAR superior to Cablelinks/NTLs.

LegacyUser

question will it use a decoder box,
and will i be able to watch to different things on two tvs,

LegacyUser

Gladiator: Unless NTL are planning to roll out their own version of the upcoming Sky+ box (which does have that ability), I'd assume that they'll base their digital services on those they currently offer in the UK & NI which would require a box - for premium channels at least - that would be functionally equivalent to current Sky Digiboxes (ie: one channel at a time with their own version of the EPG).

You can see how this would make sense for them...they simply sell the boxes they already supply running software they already use - I dont think there'd even be a need to retune the box for connection to TVs in the Republic as all of them use a UHF channel anyway.

I may well be wrong, but as NTL themselves arent very forthcoming with info, this is what I'd asdsume to be the case.

Hope this is of some use

LegacyUser

so what you telling me is im ****ed for watching tv upstairs, *family hate star trek,*
allso recording one thing and watchign another is out i persume,
this sounds fairly ****e, and how much extra will i pay for the pleasure of being done over

LegacyUser

Gladiator - don't panic . like everything there are ways and means around it !!!

so don't panic .. you can watch one thing and tape another thing ......

wiring m8 .. just fix the wiring !!!

Men !! it takes a woman to tell you this !!

---

Jessica

LegacyUser

no its more then wiring i have to get a secound decoder box, and a spliter box for the cable,

1)were the hell am i meant to get a secound decoder, that works with ntl if they control the supply

2)ntl digital is ****e and nobody knows if i can even split the cable and keep a decent icture

LegacyUser

I wouldn't worry about it at the moment, seeing as it hasn't been launched here yet.

LegacyUser

ba yes lets not worry, its just i rather not have it at all then pay more for stations i wont watch and one tv,

i mean are they mentaly diseased or something, do they real think that people only have one tv. ive 3 with a vcr connected to each, which is useless as well now

Kix

Gladiator,

Everyone knows that you never get to watch any telly because you're never off boards.

K

LegacyUser

ture, but this would mean no more cool programs the family dont like, ie naked chick part 2, or how low can you go

its just not fair

LegacyUser

How come all the good stuff isnt on after 12 its on @ 10 or 11 when every1's watching the tv.

LegacyUser

Unless its the playboy channel!

icdg

Just back, and to answer a few questions here:

NTL will launch its Digitalplus digital cable service in the Republic in September. All cable connected homes in Galway and Waterford, and about 1/3rd of homes in Dublin (mainly in the West and city centre) will be able to recieve the service, the full list is on ICDG somewhere (check past news articles).

Channel line up is not yet confirmed, but will include all currently available analogue channels as well as some TV packs (check the NI service for details), and possibly a limited version of Front Row.

You will need a STB which will be supplied by NTL as part of your subscription. NTL UK rents second and third boxes from £10 a month each. (You must rememeber that most NTL UK customers are paying £30 or more for TV and also take telephone service however.)

The boxes will be near identical to the ex-Cable and Wireless boxes in the UK, see www.digitalspy.co.uk to see some pictures of these + their EPG.

LegacyUser

can you buy a box and connect it up, will they let you do that, i dont like this rental things as it reminds me of eircoms phone rent, were you ended up paying serveral times the market price

[This message has been edited by Gladiator (edited 28-07-2001).]

icdg

Nope - the boxes are pretty much propreitery to NTL. You get the first one rent free as part of your subscription, but have to pay £10 (Sterling) per month for the second and third one. There is a limit of three per household. (All this is UK-relevant, but I presume something similar will apply here).

LegacyUser

Kaiser, what channels do you not get with the Sky package. What about BBC1/2, UTV and CH4 are these available with Sky. Also do you need another aerial to pick up RTE1/2, TV3 and TNG. The lack of these channels is the only thing stopping me binning my decoder and contract with NTL and going with Sky, with NTL's MMDS the picture quality is crap(especially for the non-national channels).

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Drakus:
Kaiser, what channels do you not get with the Sky package. </font>

The best place to look is on the icdg site or elsewhere on this forum, but this is the status with Sky in ROI:

BBC 1/2 NI: Available on chs 214/215

UTV: ITV will be joining Sky before the end of the year and it is likely it (in the form of UTV) will be available to ROI customers.

Ch4/Ch5: Not available yet.

Irish Channels: Not available yet, and may never be (but probably will, some day). You will need to use your existing TV aerial to get these.