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Old 13-09-2006, 19:02
bennat
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Hello all, not posted in a while and to be honest thats because thee is not much to chat about. Except for the odd poor interet complaint (which I dont have!)

So HC, its been bought by Tiscali and nothing more other than confirmation by both companies!

I'm currently coming to an end of my 4ths free HC package and I have already gone out and bought a FREEVIEW box!

I really am struggeling to see the point now in HC??

They ave not added any decent new channels in 1 year (since the overhaul in 2005) and they dont look set to offer anything else anytime soon!

NTL are now offering a free TV service to rival Freeview and it includes SKY1 in its package along with VOD!

Has any one heard of plans for HC? Is it worth sticking with them or moving on cause HC is Dead in the water????
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Old 13-09-2006, 19:05
jongatera
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As reported in Broadcast magazine a few weeks ago HC and Tiscali will be launching the service Nationwide by the end of November. This will so im told include different pricing and package options. Its doubtful however, that we will hear anymore details much before then.
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Old 13-09-2006, 21:57
pissedbob
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The end of November sound incredibly optimistic given the length of time it took to roll out just to London. I seriously doubt Tiscali are pumping in the sort of money that would allow a nationwide launch that soon.

Even without the time it takes to unbundle exchanges, that leaves very little time for a relaunch/rebranding exercise. I honestly can't see Tiscali promoting the existing HomeChoice brand without adding a lick of Tiscali-tinted paint...
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Old 13-09-2006, 23:10
johnnyrocker
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might it not be possible to tap hc output into tiscali network and feed from there?
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Old 14-09-2006, 09:23
Peter We
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Tiscali to present business plan in the week starting Oct 9
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds...fx3015985.html
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Old 14-09-2006, 09:57
bennat
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Originally Posted by Peter We
Tiscali to present business plan in the week starting Oct 9
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds...fx3015985.html
Excuse my ignorance but all that article talks about is how much Tiscali Have lost this year! Not a good start HC!!!!

I know at least 7 people who have HC through my reccomendations and who had it before and I know that at least 5 of them have now taken up an NTL package (free TV) which comes soon and another 1 when she moved has got Sky as far better choice (now she can have a dish) + she gets free broadband!
So that leaves me and one other guy I know. I've just bought a freeview box and am toying with the idea of NTL free TV package!

I'm very very sure that we are not the only 7 people thinking the same thing?? Out of the 64000 (or whatever the number is) subscribers I can guess that a fair few of them are feeling the same and unless changes are a foot then they will lose a large load of that client base!
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Old 14-09-2006, 11:56
mbear
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I feel the same - the value just isn't there. For my £27.50 a month I can get:

a) 16mb broadband + sky tv with two packages, for £25pm)
b) 2mb broadband + sky tv with two packages, for £15pm)
c) 8mb broadband + sky tv with two packages, for £20pm)
d) Be broadband (up to 24mb) for £24pm + Freeview (free)
e) NTL (urgh)

then soon come BT Vision, Orange's TV offering and the rest...
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Old 14-09-2006, 12:22
Rufus Londinii
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Interesting you mention Orange. I've been with them on a dialup basis since they were Freeserve (ie before Wanadoo even!). When it came to selecting a broadband provider I did think about them given that the TV box was being mentioned but went for Homechoice instead.

That was 2 years ago!
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Old 14-09-2006, 15:02
dpvod
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I spoke with technical support yesterday as I was having some outtage issues. HD is still on the cards for next year and new channels will be announced in October....so stay tuned..it might just be worth it
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Old 14-09-2006, 15:26
bennat
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Originally Posted by dpvod
I spoke with technical support yesterday as I was having some outtage issues. HD is still on the cards for next year and new channels will be announced in October....so stay tuned..it might just be worth it
Hmmm i take everything they say with a pinch of salt! They make stuff up as they go along.

"so you getting new channels?"

"oh yeah new channels, i believe so although they dont tell us anything here!"

My free 4mths runs out in October so it will be worth waiting to see what gets announced although it will probably be E4+1 and some Movies on demand channel for Slovakians living within the M25!
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Old 14-09-2006, 16:13
dpvod
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Yes i know what you mean Bennatt...but i have more faith in the technical support guys than the morons on customer services!!! Also the deal with Tiscali will give them more clout with a potentially larger customer base to negotiate other channels...and not just obscure ones!
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Old 14-09-2006, 16:29
Peter We
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Originally Posted by bennat
Hmmm i take everything they say with a pinch of salt! They make stuff up as they go along.

"so you getting new channels?"

"oh yeah new channels, i believe so although they dont tell us anything here!"

My free 4mths runs out in October so it will be worth waiting to see what gets announced although it will probably be E4+1 and some Movies on demand channel for Slovakians living within the M25!

Lets see ... Tiscali merged with HC a month ago and you are already moaning that they havn't done anything yet.

From what I've heard they are going to offer the service to their wholesale ISP's, launch in Italy, bring out a new service before the end of the year and HD - now - next year.

And they are going to announce their strategy in the first week of October.

That gives you nearly of month to complain about what they might not do.
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Old 17-09-2006, 23:29
BBRealist
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Dunno, I ditched them for failing to offer much over freeview and failing to offer ADSL2+ services while most of the London based competition were merrily offering their 16, 22 and 24Mbit services and saved a few quid along the way.

The current service offerings aren't good enough for those who have a choice of suppliers, HC know this and this is why they are giving people 4 months free, to give themselves a chance to catch up a bit and get their cobbled together network into good order.

What the Homechoice cheerleader says aside that's basically the way it is. If you are willing to give HC the benefit of the doubt and wait and see what they have for their current subs, personally I wouldn't get optimistic and I'd imagine the announcement to be focussed towards nationwide Tiscali subscribers, then stick with them. Otherwise jack them in and go elsewhere, easy choice really.
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Old 18-09-2006, 02:22
Peter We
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Ah, yes BBBS.
I'm still enjoying your statements about HC being worthless against companies like Bulldog who have far more customers.
Funny, 3 times the customers yet worth a quarter the amount (HC £50million, Bulldog were sold for £12million). Still don't understand the point of triple play do you?
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Old 18-09-2006, 07:32
BBRealist
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Originally Posted by Peter We
Ah, yes BBBS.
I'm still enjoying your statements about HC being worthless against companies like Bulldog who have far more customers.
Funny, 3 times the customers yet worth a quarter the amount (HC £50million, Bulldog were sold for £12million). Still don't understand the point of triple play do you?
Nice twisting Peter, you forget or choose to ignore that the sum that HC were sold for includes network, CS, customer base, everything, while the £12 million for Bulldog was just the customer base and the network stayed with C+W

I see Tiscali quote 45,000 IPTV subscribers... didn't Homechoice have over 48,000 at the end of Q1? Guess they ran out of people who can't have Sky / Cable / Freeview

I understand triple play very well, just not in the way Homechoice do it to be honest. Not enough channels, internet service 'ok' but again not good enough compared to the competition, phone service, well it's a phone.

EDIT: El link to Tiscali statement: http://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/n...kFululNXEMivCG

Last edited by BBRealist : 18-09-2006 at 07:38.
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Old 18-09-2006, 10:36
mega pixels
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Originally Posted by Peter We
Ah, yes BBBS.
I'm still enjoying your statements about HC being worthless against companies like Bulldog who have far more customers.
Funny, 3 times the customers yet worth a quarter the amount (HC £50million, Bulldog were sold for £12million). Still don't understand the point of triple play do you?
As BBRealist said, Pipex only bought Bulldog's customer base and rights to the Bulldog brand but the network itself remains part of Cable & Wireless. As part of the deal, Cable & Wireless has agreed a five-year wholesale supply of ADSL access to Pipex worth over £250m.
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Old 18-09-2006, 12:15
Peter We
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i though HC's netwwork wasn't worth anything,being rubbish?

BBBS who is your ISP? I'd like the post there complaining about the lack of TV stations and crap download speed, and bitch and moan about some company I used to get broadband from. Before it merged it another company.
Real pathetic, huh?

Last edited by Peter We : 18-09-2006 at 12:16.
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Old 18-09-2006, 12:45
Peter We
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BBBS:
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/...2&postcount=43

ROTFLMAO

You don't like someone complaining about Telewest service when they don't have it. Ironic eh? Or maybe simply libelous. You *are* a NTL/Telewest employee aren't you?
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/...43&postcount=8

"Personally I don't see a problem with employees airing their views in public, especially if done anonymously "

And you also slag off Sky, accusing someone of being a 'Skyman'.
Do you actually have ADSL2+ or is that to cover up your interest in Telewest?
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Old 20-09-2006, 17:20
BBRealist
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I love how defensive you get whenever I criticise HC, yet you accuse me of being an employee of another company.

Trust me you couldn't be more wrong about who my employer is.

Thanks for looking through my post history looking for mud to throw because, as per, you couldn't contradict what I said, always a pleasure You may want to actually read what you are using to sling mud though. I didn't tell that guy he didn't have ntl / Telewest, I said he wasn't on the service tier that he was slagging off.

I'm actually quite interested in where I slagged them off as opposed to stating facts.

Dunno, I ditched them for failing to offer much over freeview and failing to offer ADSL2+ services while most of the London based competition were merrily offering their 16, 22 and 24Mbit services and saved a few quid along the way.

The current service offerings aren't good enough for those who have a choice of suppliers, HC know this and this is why they are giving people 4 months free, to give themselves a chance to catch up a bit and get their cobbled together network into good order.
All the above is fact afaik, network is being converted from legacy ATM to IP at the moment, there is no resiliency on bits of the core, or at least weren't, HC do not offer ADSL2+ and have a relatively limited channel line up.

I don't 'hate' Homechoice, I'm posting this from an HC connection. It's a reasonable service as far as it goes, just doesn't go far enough which I think is most people's criticism. I used the words 'cobbled together' from when my services died due to failure of a single network node. Not acceptable IMO.

BTW I wouldn't touch ntl/Telewest services with a barge pole, as anyone who actually knew me would know.

Who's pathetic the one who calls the other pathetic and libelous but can't actually answer the post in hand with anything barring mud slinging perhaps? Your continuous fanboyism is far more pathetic than anything I say.

I'm sure we've been though this all anyway, with exactly the same cycle, let's not go back that way again thanks. I post my opinion, you don't even give an opinion on my post you try and attack me personally.

Either back your post up with fact or shut up, don't try slinging mud and again completely inaccurately speculating on who I do and don't work for, it makes you look like an idiot especially considering your wildly inaccurate speculation and clear cheerleading of Homechoice in the past.

You may also want to look into the legal definitions of libel while you are at it. Amusing though it is you suggesting I'm being libelous due to disagreeing with you about your provider I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. I would suspect however that continously accusing someone of working for someone who they don't work for at all, and implying the commit libel is probably a little closer to it though.

Last edited by BBRealist : 20-09-2006 at 17:48.
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Old 20-09-2006, 20:27
Peter We
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Yet you defend Telewest in many of your posts in that forum.
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Old 21-09-2006, 07:46
BBRealist
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Originally Posted by Peter We
Yet you defend Telewest in many of your posts in that forum.
A lot of what I posted was from experience of working for a cableco, not baseless defense of the indefensible. I have little doubt I've also torn them a new one in places.

Even if what you are saying were the case though, so what? You defend Homechoice with almost every post you make in this forum, and as the above shows you do it quite vociferously. You've a history going back several months of doing it.

Hell if you were to be believed Homechoice would be the #1 triple play operator in London by now, having passed 100,000 customers at the start of the year and gained them at between 3 and 5000 a week, rather than apparently actually losing them recently.

I don't really want to go back into that routine of asking for a response to the points I pose in posts over and over again, we've already been down that route.

Will bow out at that point and leave you, your insults and fantasies about who I've worked for (I have never worked for Telewest, and haven't worked for ntl for quite some time, just FYI) to their own devices.

Last edited by BBRealist : 21-09-2006 at 08:05.
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