[Colin_London]

Recombu appears to have a bit more info for retail Youview box owners who have BT Infinity - there is now a number to register your details:

http://recombu.com/digital/news/bt-s...bt_M11635.html

'Customers will need to call BT on 0800 800 801 to register their details in order to get the channels.'

Haven't found Recombus BT source for this yet.....

[ney]

I emailed BT about getting there sports channels on my retail YouView box and heres there reply.
Dear Mr. Ney,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 02/06/13 regarding the BT Sports

As per your account, I can confirm that you are on the BT Vision unlimited package at a monthly rental of £10 along with the Infinity broadband. Regarding the BT Sports, as your broadband service is with BT at present, the BT Sports will be completely free of charge for you for the first 12 months irrespective of the Vision package you are on at the moment; the same applied to the You view box which you are using at present

For further information regarding the sports and also for placing order, you can use the following link:
http://www.bt.com/sport/

You can consider this e-mail as a confirmation for the above and do let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

I hope you have been happy with all I have done for you. You will be getting an e-mail soon with a short survey. Please be honest, it is about how I have dealt with things and also more generally about BT

Thank you for contacting BT.
Arko Dit
Digital Care Advisor

Dose this mean that they are only going to offer there BT Sports channels free for a year and that my retail YouView box will get the updated software to get there sport channels.

Darren

[steveOooo]

I guess it's a case of waitijg til it launches in August - I have a 1tb retail YV box whic would wor with two other YV boxes in the same household.

More - http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1832399

[moohead]

BT have now confirmed that people with BT Infinity and their own retail YouView box will have to subscribe to a BT TV package which start at £5/month, once the 'technical solution' (set-top box software upgrade) is in place:

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/43272

Quote:

Can I get BT Sport if I didn’t get my YouView box directly from BT?

If you bought your YouView box from a high street retailer and not directly from BT, then BT Sport is not currently available on your TV. We are working on a solution to bring BT Sport to you.

When BT Sport is available, you will need BT Infinity and a BT TV package from BT to watch it on YouView.

Remember that BT Sport is also available to watch for free online at btsport.com and via the BT Sport app on your smartphone or tablet for all BT broadband customers.

[Colin_London]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moohead

BT have now confirmed that people with BT Infinity and their own retail YouView box will have to subscribe to a BT TV package which start at £5/month, once the 'technical solution' (set-top box software upgrade) is in place:

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/43272

This has stated this for some time - it's not that new. And as I have pointed out elsewhere BT Player is a BT TV package that costs nothing to retail box owners (unless you actually rent something) - but you still have to sign up to get access to it.

[moohead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin_London

This has stated this for some time - it's not that new. And as I have pointed out elsewhere BT Player is a BT TV package that costs nothing to retail box owners (unless you actually rent something) - but you still have to sign up to get access to it.

Are you sure BT Vision Player is classed as a BT TV package? There is no mention of it here:
http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...mpare-packages

BT Vision Player is described here as just the On-Demand feature of a BT TV package:
http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...-vision-player

Quote:

BT TV comes with the BT Vision Player.

[Colin_London]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moohead

Are you sure BT Vision Player is classed as a BT TV package? There is no mention of it here:
http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...mpare-packages

BT Vision Player is described here as just the On-Demand feature of a BT TV package:
http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...-vision-player

The page for retail Youview box owners is here:

http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...on_FURL_player

And you can see that the PAYG Player is free.

That said people have reported problems signing up to it recently so it appears someone at BT has cunningly removed the ability to sign up for it (possibly in the hope people will sign up for a package instead?).

[ney]

I have had a retail YouView box since October 2012 and have been paying £10 a month for the BT Vision player unlimited since May this year. So I guess im ok to get the new BT sports channels as im also only just over 2 months into a new 16 months contract for my Infinity 2/evening and weekend calls at a discounted price of £17.25 a month plus line rental.

Darren

[Colin_London]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ney

I have had a retail YouView box since October 2012 and have been paying £10 a month for the BT Vision player unlimited since May this year. So I guess im ok to get the new BT sports channels as im also only just over 2 months into a new 16 months contract for my Infinity 2/evening and weekend calls at a discounted price of £17.25 a month plus line rental.

Darren

By rights you should be, but as you have a retail box AT PRESENT BT are not committing to providing you with BT Sport. IMHO their 'product strategists' completely forgot about Retail boxes and its only since the outcry that they have been playing catch-up.

They are still telling retail box owners to 'watch this space' but the clock is ticking to the end of the free HD offer at the end of July now. It seems that we'll have to sign up to a package but no indication as to whether we'll get a discount for buying our own boxes.

The lower level support people haven't been briefed as to what is happening wrt retail boxes and are floundering when asked.

[1andrew1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin_London

By rights you should be, but as you have a retail box AT PRESENT BT are not committing to providing you with BT Sport. IMHO their 'product strategists' completely forgot about Retail boxes and its only since the outcry that they have been playing catch-up.

They are still telling retail box owners to 'watch this space' but the clock is ticking to the end of the free HD offer at the end of July now. It seems that we'll have to sign up to a package but no indication as to whether we'll get a discount for buying our own boxes.

The lower level support people haven't been briefed as to what is happening wrt retail boxes and are floundering when asked.

What is the difference between the retail boxes and BT boxes? Do the boxes start as retail boxes and BT then adds some additional software? I thought all YouView boxes were meant to have the same software but depending upon which ISP they were used with, different content would be available.

[MostynDS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

What is the difference between the retail boxes and BT boxes? Do the boxes start as retail boxes and BT then adds some additional software? I thought all YouView boxes were meant to have the same software but depending upon which ISP they were used with, different content would be available.

Has anyone with a BT branded box actually checked to see if it will work as expected on a non-BT internet connection?

[Colin_London]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

What is the difference between the retail boxes and BT boxes? Do the boxes start as retail boxes and BT then adds some additional software? I thought all YouView boxes were meant to have the same software but depending upon which ISP they were used with, different content would be available.

The boxes are the same whether you buy them from a shop or BT - they get the same config when you connect them to a BT connection.

The problem BT has is a back-end system provisioning issue - I.e. they haven't set up their systems to allow for the addition of non-BT retailed boxes so they can't add the services. They need to develop a process to take the retail box details and add it to their database as a 'virtual box swap' (I.e. manage your retail box as if it is one of theirs).

[Colin_London]

.... And although such a system change sounds straightforward it can take months to plan, test and implement on a system like BTs if it wasn't in the original specification.

[gomezz]

That is not quite the problem. My retail (actually trial) box was BT'ified when I changed to BT Infinity last month and got the BT Player installed automatically. What I can't do at the moment is add BT TV to my box without their ordering system making me get another box from them.

Even for me, running a *fifth* PVR would be OTT!

[skiller]

Deleted. Misunderstood question!

[Colin_London]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezz

That is not quite the problem. My retail (actually trial) box was BT'ified when I changed to BT Infinity last month and got the BT Player installed automatically. What I can't do at the moment is add BT TV to my box without their ordering system making me get another box from them.

Even for me, running a *fifth* PVR would be OTT!

This is part of the same problem - they have to create a new product to sell which is 'BT TV without a box or activation fee' and then bill you properly for it.

The difference with the current Player products being the need to be able to provision your retail box for BT sport channels via multicast.

[gomezz]

As it is running exactly the same firmware as a box supplied by BT that should not be a technical issue.

[Colin_London]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezz

As it is running exactly the same firmware as a box supplied by BT that should not be a technical issue.

Aaargh!

I'm not talking about the boxes - we know there is no problem there!

It's BTs back-end provisioning systems

[gomezz]

I am not sure that is all you originally said. But I agree with what you now say.

[whoever,hey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezz

That is not quite the problem. My retail (actually trial) box was BT'ified when I changed to BT Infinity last month and got the BT Player installed automatically. What I can't do at the moment is add BT TV to my box without their ordering system making me get another box from them.

Even for me, running a *fifth* PVR would be OTT!

I got our bttv last month, it was our 4th pvr in the house. We do now have 2 under the main living room tv, and the other is a humax!!

[moohead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin_London

This has stated this for some time - it's not that new. And as I have pointed out elsewhere BT Player is a BT TV package that costs nothing to retail box owners (unless you actually rent something) - but you still have to sign up to get access to it.

It has now been officially confirmed by BT that BT Vision Player is not a BT TV package, and that Retail YouView users wanting BT Sports will have to pay a TV subscription:

BT: Retail YouView users wanting BT Sports will have to pay a TV subscription
http://www.seenit.co.uk/bt-retail-yo...ption/0628310/

Quote:

When asked whether the discounted TV products currently offered to users of retail boxes would class as a BT TV package, a spokesperson for the company responded:

“If you want to get BT Sport on a retail YouView box (when it is available) you will need to take out a BT TV subscription starting at £5 a month and PAYG status will not count as a TV package.”

If accurate, it means that while Sky TV customers – including Freesat From Sky users – who also have BT broadband will get free access to the channels via their Sky+ boxes, retail YouView customers will have to pay a minimum of £5pm in addition to their broadband subscription to access the same content.

Retail YouView customers 'need subscription to access BT Sport'
http://www.cable.co.uk/news/retail-y...ort-801599937/

Further discussion on the Youview forums here:
http://community.youview.com/youview...ew_box_perhaps