Topic ID 2192
Does anyone here know when we are going to get the High Definition service in Hertford from NTL?
Reply ID 30004
A list of the forthcoming rollout of the NTL PVR which includes HDTV is in the link below. It does not list Luton which when I had NTL was the location mentioned when new services in the Herford Area were announced. http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33603121 There is a forum http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33603121 which covers Freeview, NTL/Telewest & SKY which is worth a look.
Reply ID 30013
Luton goes over on Dec 12th. Not sure if that means Hertford will.
Reply ID 30572
Assuming that the HD content on NTL is the same as Sky, I would not get too excited even if it arrives tomorrow. I have Sky HD on a years freebie and whilst the picture quality is fab, the content is not enough to warrant the extra subscription IMO. Unless the HD channels are substantially increased by this time next year I will not be signing up for the extra tenner a month.
Reply ID 30596
HOw did you get the years freebie? and did you have to shell out the £350 for the box?
Reply ID 30605
they ought to sort their internet out first before they do anything with HDTV :P
Reply ID 30617
quote:£99 for the box - all above board but if I told you I'd have to kill you [:)]
Originally posted by Victor Meldrew
HOw did you get the years freebie? and did you have to shell out the £350 for the box?
Reply ID 30715
I wonder if NTL will still give PVR out for free!?
Reply ID 30718
Or JSMD, SMD and KMA as well. It's just so frustrating.
Reply ID 30721
quote:There's something very telling about the fact that if you type http://www.nthellworld.com in your browser's address bar, you're taken to the main NTL site. And changing the name to Virgin ain't gonna change a thing!
Originally posted by simcut
they ought to sort their internet out first before they do anything with HDTV :P
Reply ID 30723
I agree with you there Steve. I read that NTL were pumping a lot of money into customer service and when perceptions were on the rise they planned to jump to the Virgin brand in an attempt to expunge their the comically woeful past. Do they really think people can't see past that? Actually many wouldn't. It's all very neatly summed up in the phrase "you can't polish a turd". Though I guess you could spray it gold.
Reply ID 30788
Funny that rebranding as Virgin would be seen as a postive step in telecoms- try mentioning that idea on a railway forum and wait for the gales of laughter.
Reply ID 30797
really? I thought virgin rail were supposed to be good - they do have the newest fastest trains after all!
Reply ID 30799
Nthellworld was a forum. (much like this one), that was used by (strangly enough) NTL users a while ago, as soon as the domain became available (it was owned by one of their employees i think) they bought it to stop its use ( i beleive that they also sued the owners!)
Reply ID 30803
Different experiences. I have never had a days trouble from NTL in nearly 10 years. Much better than the trouble I always had with Sky. NTL supply the box for free, fix it for free, did a great cabling job for me, and offer a much better picture quality than sky (HD aside). I find the on demand TV the future of television and I've just got a killer mobile deal through them as part of the 4 for £40 deal.So I get a real 2mb broadband (not "up to"), land line phone, mid package digital and on demand TV, and 300 minute mobile deal all for £40 per month. On top of that, I've got mobile phone TV, and HD round the corner (not that I'm rushing for it). I don't think any of the other standard media package comes close.
Reply ID 30806
quote:Funny they missed this then! [:D] http://www.nthellworld.co.uk
Originally posted by Mad Mick
Nthellworld was a forum. (much like this one), that was used by (strangly enough) NTL users a while ago, as soon as the domain became available (it was owned by one of their employees i think) they bought it to stop its use ( i beleive that they also sued the owners!)
Reply ID 30807
quote:There's also http://www.ntlhell.co.uk
Originally posted by Mad Mick
Nthellworld was a forum. (much like this one), that was used by (strangly enough) NTL users a while ago, as soon as the domain became available (it was owned by one of their employees i think) they bought it to stop its use ( i beleive that they also sued the owners!)
Reply ID 30811
quote:They will give it out for free,but will charge an extra £10 a month.
Originally posted by Dude
I wonder if NTL will still give PVR out for free!?
Reply ID 38751
Just got HDTV through Virgin and the picture quality is amazing although only BBC HD is available at the moment. The best part about it is that my bill has halved since I took it, and I get to keep the other box in another room for only an extra tenner a month. There was no outlay either. Now paying £30 a month for all this: Virgin V+ box, TV size XL, all Sky Sports, broadband and telephone and extra room TV. Splendid!
Reply ID 38762
go on, i'm willing to die, how did you get that deal 007?
Reply ID 38767
I had the special key wingnut. Seriously, this is how you do it. I did my research on the interweb to see what the prices were for both. I then rang 6.30pm four weeks ago on a weekday evening with a view to cancel and move to Sky, which I was prepared to do. I complained (in a productive way) about the service that Virgin has (India call centre that cannot help), the fact that I had lost Sky One etc and that the Sky product had been recommended by a friend. They gave me 7 discounts straight away, a lot of it seemed to be based on my loss of Sky TV and the fact that their braodband speed is slower compared to Sky. By the way wingnut, I have been with them a couple of years and started with the 'foot vote'. I never once let them know that I was satisfied with what they were offering until I was satisfied with the price. [:)] If you fancy upgrading to V+ I'd recommend that you do it on a weekday evening, before 7pm. If you ring at weekends you tend to get the Indian call centre who simply cannot help you with bookings, appointments etc. Or.... you could blub down the phone like my father-in-law stating that he couldn't afford it as he was a pensioner. He got (almost) the same deal without the precision of negotiation. [:(!]
Reply ID 38777
thanks, I'll give it a go[:)]
Reply ID 42303
Now having got it, and then lost the Sky Channels, look at what Branson is up to as of today. This is nuts. From the BBC: Virgin Media, the UK's leading cable television company, is set to be taken private for more than £5.5bn. Carlyle, one of the world's leading private equity groups, has made a preliminary offer of between $33 (£16.50) to $35 per share for Virgin. Shares in Virgin, which is listed on the US Nasdaq rather than in London, closed on Friday at $24.37 per share. Sir Richard Branson is the largest investor in Virgin Media, which has 9m customers and a £4bn annual turnover. The offer would value Virgin at approximately £5.6bn. The total value of the takeover deal, including Virgin's debt of almost £6bn, would be about £11.5bn. If it goes through, it would be the second biggest takeover of a British business by private equity, after Boots. MORE INFO HERE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6259856.stm
Reply ID 42307
quote:Hmmm.. implications for us customers I wonder. Already peeed off with them after last weeks email about a 25p per minute broadband "helpdesk" telecharge. Waitrose broadband is looking the favorite right now.. (& have to my eternal shame already sold the CP soul to the Dark Lord & gone for sky TV)
Originally posted by James007
Now having got it, and then lost the Sky Channels, look at what Branson is up to as of today. This is nuts. From the BBC: Virgin Media, the UK's leading cable television company, is set to be taken private for more than £5.5bn. Carlyle, one of the world's leading private equity groups, has made a preliminary offer of between $33 (£16.50) to $35 per share for Virgin. Shares in Virgin, which is listed on the US Nasdaq rather than in London, closed on Friday at $24.37 per share. Sir Richard Branson is the largest investor in Virgin Media, which has 9m customers and a £4bn annual turnover. The offer would value Virgin at approximately £5.6bn. The total value of the takeover deal, including Virgin's debt of almost £6bn, would be about £11.5bn. If it goes through, it would be the second biggest takeover of a British business by private equity, after Boots. MORE INFO HERE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6259856.stm
Reply ID 42309
CP - I might just do the same now and succumb to the power of Murdoch.
Reply ID 42310
quote:I'm not sure that Branson instigated this, so to say "look at what Branson is up to" is unfair I think.
Originally posted by James007
Now having got it, and then lost the Sky Channels, look at what Branson is up to as of today.
Reply ID 42312
quote:I disagree Steve. This man doesn't own a tropical island without making a few decisions here and there. He is, after all, the majority shareholder in Virgin Media. Goldman Sachs are now involved too. LONDON (Reuters) - Cable operator Virgin Media has appointed Goldman Sachs to seek a possible buyer after it received approaches from various private equity firms, people familiar with the situation said on Sunday. Carlyle Group, for one, offered in recent weeks to buy the company, whose leading shareholder is the flamboyant entrepreneur Richard Branson, the sources said, but they declined to disclose the price put forward.
Originally posted by Stevequote:I'm not sure that Branson instigated this, so to say "look at what Branson is up to" is unfair I think.
Originally posted by James007
Now having got it, and then lost the Sky Channels, look at what Branson is up to as of today.
Reply ID 42313
"Cable operator Virgin Media has appointed Goldman Sachs to seek a possible buyer after it received approaches from various private equity firms" And he might be the majority shareholder, but he doesn't own the majority of shares. And there were bidders for the cable company before Branson came along, most notably from a US consortium last year.
Reply ID 42338
quote:It might be me but I don't quite get your logic Steve. Are you saying that as majority shareholder within Virgin Media and NTL, Richard Branson doesn't own the majority of shares??
Originally posted by Steve
And he might be the majority shareholder, but he doesn't own the majority of shares.
Reply ID 42339
Richard Branson owns 15% of Virgin Media.
Reply ID 42348
10.5% actually [:)] [url="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article2015989.ece"]Virgin Media mulls £11.5 billion Carlyle offer[/url] A very good article in The Independent that sums up NTL/Virgin's current position... [url="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article2015989.ece"]Virgin Virgin Media for sale[/url]
Reply ID 42368
sounds like the carlyle offer would be good for customers as they are looking to bring BSkyB back in to the fold.....but will this cost us more dosh?
Reply ID 42445
I've just gone through a house move, and with it, and review of the latest price and technology offers. I've been a Sky and NTL customer in the past, but decided to weigh them all up a fresh this time. The options were: Talk Talk landline and broadband, with freeview TV Sky for TV and the relevent tie ins for broadband and mobile Virgin Media for TV, Broadband, Landline and mobile. The freeview set up looked the most attactive, until I hit two major snags. One was the upgrade costs or decoder purchases on at least three TVs. Coupled with the fact that freeview doesn't have the scope for free HD TV in a couple of years, I ruled it out for short termism and it wouldn't look good on my 50" plasma! So it became a straight fight between Sky and Virgin. I played them off against each other and Virgin came out tops by a mile. They are giving me the new V+ 3 tuner HD box for nothing and waiving the £10 a month subsciption. All in, I'm getting the HD V+ system, The large TV package, landline phone with unlimited free calls 24/7, 2mb broadband (proper broadband, not this "Upto 8mb" stuff) and my mobile phone with 300 inclusive minutes and 300 texts. I also get the full on demand TV package. All in, price, £41. Sky wanted me to pay £70 install, £10 a month for their HD service, plus another £26pm for TV and broadband. Then I'd need to add my mobile phone contract cost on top of that (£17), plus BT line rental of £11. They offered to waive the install cost, but that still left a monthly outgoing of £64, with inferior HD and broadband. Needless to say, I went with virgin!
Reply ID 42449
Just hope their customer service is better than NTL as that was apalling
Reply ID 42451
quote:Time will tell. I found both NTL and Skys customer service very average, but I never had any real problems with either. Virgin seem to be making a much better effort than NTL at the moment.
Originally posted by Wrapper
Just hope their customer service is better than NTL as that was apalling
Reply ID 42453
quote:Wait until you have to call the Virgin broadband help line - it's 50p a minute now [V]
Originally posted by Dudequote:Time will tell. I found both NTL and Skys customer service very average, but I never had any real problems with either. Virgin seem to be making a much better effort than NTL at the moment.
Originally posted by Wrapper
Just hope their customer service is better than NTL as that was apalling
Reply ID 42464
quote:Inferior HD ????? - Virgin only has 1 HD channel - BBC HD which is a part time test channel. Sky has 12 HD Channels.
Originally posted by Dude
I've just gone through a house move, and with it, and review of the latest price and technology offers. I've been a Sky and NTL customer in the past, but decided to weigh them all up a fresh this time. The options were: Talk Talk landline and broadband, with freeview TV Sky for TV and the relevent tie ins for broadband and mobile Virgin Media for TV, Broadband, Landline and mobile. The freeview set up looked the most attactive, until I hit two major snags. One was the upgrade costs or decoder purchases on at least three TVs. Coupled with the fact that freeview doesn't have the scope for free HD TV in a couple of years, I ruled it out for short termism and it wouldn't look good on my 50" plasma! So it became a straight fight between Sky and Virgin. I played them off against each other and Virgin came out tops by a mile. They are giving me the new V+ 3 tuner HD box for nothing and waiving the £10 a month subsciption. All in, I'm getting the HD V+ system, The large TV package, landline phone with unlimited free calls 24/7, 2mb broadband (proper broadband, not this "Upto 8mb" stuff) and my mobile phone with 300 inclusive minutes and 300 texts. I also get the full on demand TV package. All in, price, £41. Sky wanted me to pay £70 install, £10 a month for their HD service, plus another £26pm for TV and broadband. Then I'd need to add my mobile phone contract cost on top of that (£17), plus BT line rental of £11. They offered to waive the install cost, but that still left a monthly outgoing of £64, with inferior HD and broadband. Needless to say, I went with virgin!
Reply ID 42466
I had 9 receiver boxes whilst with NTL in 6 years and they said my 25 pound Matsui VCR did it. Even the NTL engineer admitted their equipment was inferior. The monthly package I have with SKY is the same I had with NTL and SKY is 20 pounds a month cheaper. But the worse thing was their customer service when reporting a fault. It was dreadful compared to SKY.
Reply ID 43028
quote:Inferior to a pace or amstrad box!?[:D] I had an NTL box for 4 years. Never had a single problem. But I had my sky box replaced twice. I don't think any one is miles better than the other, it just depends on you experience. The fact is though, Sky couldn't come close on price to the Virgin offer.
Originally posted by Wrapper
I had 9 receiver boxes whilst with NTL in 6 years and they said my 25 pound Matsui VCR did it. Even the NTL engineer admitted their equipment was inferior. The monthly package I have with SKY is the same I had with NTL and SKY is 20 pounds a month cheaper. But the worse thing was their customer service when reporting a fault. It was dreadful compared to SKY.