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BT TV Internet Mode - Printable Version

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RE: BT TV Internet Mode - Newshound47 - 10-06-2023

They would need to have the entire country with fast broadband first. Plenty of people still can’t get broadband capable of streaming on one Tv at a time let alone more than one.

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - WillPS - 11-06-2023

(10-06-2023, 11:36 PM)Newshound47 Wrote:  They would need to have the entire country with fast broadband first. Plenty of people still can’t get broadband capable of streaming on one Tv at a time let alone more than one.

Can't or don't? There's an important difference there.

Affordability aside, I'd have thought the number who actually can't get any cable, FTTC, FTTP, 4G, 5G or satellite broadband service is very low indeed.

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - i.h - 11-06-2023

(10-06-2023, 11:36 PM)Newshound47 Wrote:  They would need to have the entire country with fast broadband first. Plenty of people still can’t get broadband capable of streaming on one Tv at a time let alone more than one.

According to Ofcom (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/261548/spring-2023-connected-nations-update.pdf ), "superfast" (30Mbps+) is available to 97% of homes, "decent" (10Mbps+) to all but around 435k if fixed line only, 68k if including wireless options (ie cellular and dedicated wireless networks, but not satellite).

That's today, let alone in a decade's time where 5G (and maybe even 6G) is everywhere, Openreach would have completed their fibre build to all but the most rural, etc.

People like to exaggerate the issue but the data shows a far better picture. (you especially see it with mobile coverage where people assume that because it doesn't work in every room of their house, it doesn't work anywhere)

And of course there's the people who will say their internet's not good enough for streaming, when it absolutely is, but they're trying to use some ropey wifi connection to get it to the TV. This was also evident when everyone was doing video calls during covid.

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - Keith - 11-06-2023

Broadband coverage may be all well and good, but not everybody can afford it. Be that the monthly cost of broadband, or buying/replacing TV tech so that all TVs in the house can receive it via the Internet.

In my opinion that is likely to prove a big sticking point for any complete closing of Freeview via aerial.

I can however envisage a hybrid system, where PSB channels are still required to broadcast via aerial, but most other channels & services arrive via Internet. Arguably the BBC radio stations could already be delivered entirely via the Sounds app that is on connected TVs, with non-connected TVs having to use radios (as per pre-DSO) or their mobiles.

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - London Lite - 11-06-2023

(11-06-2023, 09:10 PM)Keith Wrote:  Broadband coverage may be all well and good, but not everybody can afford it. Be that the monthly cost of broadband, or buying/replacing TV tech so that all TVs in the house can receive it via the Internet.

To ensure everyone who wants broadband can access it even on low incomes, social tariffs need to be made compulsory rather than the voluntary system that is currently in use by the broadband industry to ensure they can access speed that is enough to stream at least 1080p Full HD and that they're able to access them easily. At the moment, if you look for those social tariffs for those on Universal Credit and some legacy income based benefits, it's like finding a needle in a haystack as they're not properly advertised by the ISPs.

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - WillPS - 11-06-2023

(11-06-2023, 09:10 PM)Keith Wrote:  Broadband coverage may be all well and good, but not everybody can afford it. Be that the monthly cost of broadband, or buying/replacing TV tech so that all TVs in the house can receive it via the Internet.

This would be a great point if receiving linear channels over the air was free, but it isn't. Many ISP social tariffs are cheaper than the license fee. If I was impoverished I know which I'd prioritise.

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - i.h - 12-06-2023

(11-06-2023, 09:10 PM)Keith Wrote:  Broadband coverage may be all well and good, but not everybody can afford it. Be that the monthly cost of broadband, or buying/replacing TV tech so that all TVs in the house can receive it via the Internet.

In my opinion that is likely to prove a big sticking point for any complete closing of Freeview via aerial.

I can however envisage a hybrid system, where PSB channels are still required to broadcast via aerial, but most other channels & services arrive via Internet. Arguably the BBC radio stations could already be delivered entirely via the Sounds app that is on connected TVs, with non-connected TVs having to use radios (as per pre-DSO) or their mobiles.

I'm not sure anyone whose finances are *that* tight would be paying for a TV licence, and those pensioners who still get a free licence would qualify for social tariffed broadband as mentioned already (you need to be receiving pension credit).

as an example, BT does 40Mbit broadband and a landline with a few hundred minutes for £15/month, or in other words £5 more a month than their social tariff landline only service. You can have 80Mbps and unlimited minutes for £20.

if the very vast majority of people are using other means to watch TV, then that places a huge question mark over the future of maintaining the existing freeview transmission network, which is not a cheap endeavour. Presumably that is where Freesat comes in.

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - Neil Jones - 12-06-2023

(12-06-2023, 07:21 AM)i.h Wrote:  if the very vast majority of people are using other means to watch TV, then that places a huge question mark over the future of maintaining the existing freeview transmission network, which is not a cheap endeavour. Presumably that is where Freesat comes in.

Freesat will have costs as well, they're just less transparent than Freeview, which obviously has the aerials, the masts, the existing infrastructure...

Not sure how it works for Freesat considering the satellites cost an arm and a leg to build, test, launch and whatever else - there must be some agreement somehow to pay that back, and its probably the leasing/"renting" of the transponders and the uplinks to get your signals up there?

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - i.h - 12-06-2023

SES (Luxembourg) owns the satellites and charges rental fees to its users. Astra 2 happens to have become a largely UK + (Sky) Irish system but of course their other orbital positions are more varied. (I have it in my head that some of the satellites have an African beam too?)

Provided they don't get out of the business by then, as there'll probably be a reduced though not eliminated market for services, then there's nothing to stop Freesat and the PSBs to continue renting the handful of transponders needed for their services. Of course if Sky continues to offer a satellite service then this helps too.

I suspect it'll be a lot cheaper to do this than to maintain the national transmission network to current standards (might be an argument for keeping the main transmission sites going, but as for all those relays....)

RE: BT TV Internet Mode - Keith - 12-06-2023

(12-06-2023, 07:21 AM)i.h Wrote:  I'm not sure anyone whose finances are *that* tight would be paying for a TV licence, and those pensioners who still get a free licence would qualify for social tariffed broadband as mentioned already (you need to be receiving pension credit).

as an example, BT does 40Mbit broadband and a landline with a few hundred minutes for £15/month, or in other words £5 more a month than their social tariff landline only service. You can have 80Mbps and unlimited minutes for £20.

if the very vast majority of people are using other means to watch TV, then that places a huge question mark over the future of maintaining the existing freeview transmission network, which is not a cheap endeavour. Presumably that is where Freesat comes in.
This rather assumes that everyone who watches live TV is paying the TV licence fee, though it could be argued that if they're not paying for it why should they be able to access it.

However, the cost of broadband was only part of my sentence. There is also the cost of replacing TVs or buying the tech to make them compatible to receive IP streamed TV. Whilst the likes of a Roku stick may only be under £30 per TV that can still add up if you have multiple TVs, and even if people can afford this they're likely to resent being forced to pay that.

Long term there may be an argument for all properties to have access to a basic 5-10MB/s internet connection for free, which would probably have to be subsidised by government. (Given more government and council services are going online I'd argue there's a reasonable case for this, however that's down to politics which is probably off-topic.)

(12-06-2023, 08:30 AM)i.h Wrote:  I suspect it'll be a lot cheaper to do this than to maintain the national transmission network to current standards (might be an argument for keeping the main transmission sites going, but as for all those relays....)
If I recall correctly the transmission masts are currently used for things other than just TV transmission, such as radio and possibly also mobile networks. Naturally technologies can change quite a bit in a decade, however I'd have thought come 2033 the masts (and relays) would still be used for more than just TV transmission.