Originally posted by MAW
Groundy, do I understand from that you don't get the FTA channels for £10? How would that work? I'm researching this for my Dad, who can't get freeview, he's tried. Ideally' he'd get the cheapeast package to get his STB subsidised/whatever, and I had heard you could drop your subscription, but still get the FTA channels, when the contract expires. Is that still so?
Martin
FTA = No smartcard required...for example SKY News
FTV = Smartcard required...for example BBC1
It confuses things when BBC, ITV1 etc are called FTA as they are actually FTV and require a smartcard
You don't pay SKY anything for the FTV channels, every active smartcard either from SKY or the BBC carries the codes to decode these channels so if you had the £10 a month package you get the SKY channels and all the FTV channels as well.
If you want a subsidised installation (£1 currently) then you have to sign up online and select the £37 SKYworld package. After the first month you can downgrade the package to a cheaper one but you pay the first month at full price. You can ring SKY and alter the package within the first month but it won't be changed until the end of the first month.
So the cheapest option costs (1+37+110) = £148 for the first year and then cancel the SKY subscription after 12 months and you keep all the hardware and the smartcard acts as a FTV card for the BBC, ITV1, CH4, CH5 etc channels.