Will you be saying Goodbye Freeview ?

whatsupdoc

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From the Consumer Action Group


Millions will have to pay to get Freeview TV
Remember how they claimed Freeview would be interference free AND free? Now it's going to cost you £200 to fix it

New 4G mobile phone network will leave people facing £200 bills to cut out interference

More than 2 million Freeview customers face bills of up to £212 – more than the cost of a year’s subscription to cable television – in order to pay for interference with signals caused by the 4G mobile network.

Freeview and the BBC last night told The Independent of their anger at the Government’s apparent determination to dump the costs of installing signal filter equipment on householders rather than the mobile phone companies which will enjoy huge financial benefit from the introduction of 4G next year.

Estimates suggest that between 2.3m and 3m households – within 2km of 4G transmitters - face interference with their television pictures, with some losing their signals entirely.
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Oh, not again! :facepalm:

Old news, which has been discussed at length on here previously.
 
Well, it was posted mainly for information and I'm sure there will be some, like myself, who missed the earlier posts.

Sorry to cause you so much distress with the post :rolleyes:
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It may be old news but is ongoing, the government would like it forgotten as they would the recession and we still here about that (when the Olympics aren't on of course). :laugh:

Did we get a satisfactory answer to the masts issues (if we did maybe I missed it)? :confused:

It won't be old news for those affected! :eek:
 
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Apologies for mentioning Freesat in this forum but I feel if the consumer is left to pick up a bill of £200 to continue to get Freeview, which with Olympic coverage has shown is very limited, they may opt for this money to invest in a Freesat box. I know if was to happen to me this is the option I would choose. The only reason Freeview is popular is because its cheap, make it a lot more expensive to install it will die.
 
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Apologies for mentioning Freesat in this forum but I feel if the consumer is left to pick up a bill of £200 to continue to get Freeview, which with Olympic coverage has shown is very limited, they may opt for this money to invest in a Freesat box. I know if was to happen to me this is the option I would choose. The only reason Freeview is popular is because its cheap, make it a lot more expensive to install it will die.

Correct sir, well said, the price of freesat/freeview pvr's is almost identical especially the HD ones, I know which i would choose and its not freeview. £300 for a YouView freeview box-No Thanks! The best freeview HD box is the Technika stbhdis2010, which can be bought for around £20! it doesn't record but offers great HD picture quality, personally i have been picking up freeview SD recorders off e-*** real cheap for a while now just purely as a little hobby/curiosity. Freesat is the way ahead for me, Freeview has too many limitations.
 
Agreed, but my point was that a new thread shouldn't have been opened for an existing topic. :)

Fair comment. :)

Just concerned if it's not kept topical it'll just happen as if we all accepted it.
:eek:

I think it's bad enough Freeview aren't benefiting more from the increase in free channels afforded by the switching off of Analogue.

Whilst the mobile phone infastructure is important to many people so is non subscription TV.

Probably the same people who complain about lack of mobile capacity, complain about Freeview quality.

We need joined up thinking on this not just selling it off to the highest bidder and sufficient Freeview channels should be ring fenced so we can have at least one more HD mux!

That's it rant over (for now anyway). :)
 
We need joined up thinking on this not just selling it off to the highest bidder and sufficient Freeview channels should be ring fenced so we can have at least one more HD mux!

Three more HD muxes are coming , probably sometime between 2013-16.

This is going to be the next big hurdle because in a number of cases they are going to be 'out of band'... so only receivable if aerials are changed. (Dependent on locality.)
 
Three more HD muxes are coming , probably sometime between 2013-16.

This is going to be the next big hurdle because in a number of cases they are going to be 'out of band'... so only receivable if aerials are changed. (Dependent on locality.)

I believe I heard something about this but a lot of it seems unclear to me:

Will they be run by Arquiva and subscription? :eek:

Freesat has plenty of capacity and has only 4 HD channels (temp Olympics excluded) + NHK world = 1 Freeview mux.
So where are another 10 HD channels going to come from? :confused: We need the capacity available though for when the economy improves.

If they're going to change things again maybe they should move the SD channels to T2 (they're going to have to at some point you'd imagine).

This would upset some people having to buy new boxes, maybe they should have only recomended T2 boxes even for SD for a year or so.

This is what I mean by "joined up thinking" it's very dificult for non tecnical people to make decisions without clear and well publicised future projections.

You probably know more but to me all we've heard is speculation and opinions, mainly on these great forums. :)

Not much use for the normal punter. It all seems to be shrouded in secrecy.

thankfully I have a Humax Foxsat HDR.

"That's it rant over (for now anyway). :)"

I did say for now.
 
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New 4G mobile phone network will leave people facing £200 bills to cut out interference

More than 2 million Freeview customers face bills of up to £212 – more than the cost of a year’s subscription to cable television – in order to pay for interference with signals caused by the 4G mobile network.


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Back on topic. This is mostly hype dreamed up by hacks who don't understand the problem. Simple filters suitable for use in group A or B areas only cost around £5. In C/D areas something better may be required but best to wait and see.

Tetra was a similar problem and though there are some cases of interference it is in fact quite rare.
 
Back on topic. This is mostly hype dreamed up by hacks who don't understand the problem. Simple filters suitable for use in group A or B areas only cost around £5. In C/D areas something better may be required but best to wait and see.

Tetra was a similar problem and though there are some cases of interference it is in fact quite rare.

Quite likely most people affected wouldn't realise if it was Tetra affecting their signals on the Freeview platform?

I just think it could stoke up trouble in the future and mean Freeview hitting the buffers.
 
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Of course, given their mandate, OFCOM could refuse to sanction 4G with the potential it has for problems in its present form.

Too busy counting the cash.
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where are another 10 HD channels going to come from?

It all seems to be shrouded in secrecy.
No one knows, yet.
Ofcom will have to advertise the spectrum / broadcast licence(s) and someone will have to bid for them.

I don't think anyone knows for sure if Ofcom are to mandate DVB-T2 (stupid not to, though) OR mandate HD-only channels (instead also permitting SD, Radio, and Text services or no HD at all :eek:).

I'd expect $ky to want to get some (pay) access? Arqiva may well also want to bid for additional spectrum? In any case any other operator will pay Arqiva for access to facilities at/on their masts and towers.

Some recentish consultations that may be relevant to Freeview long-term include:
Ofcom | Securing long term benefits from scarce spectrum resources - A strategy for UHF bands IV and V
Ofcom | Second consultation on coexistence of new services in the 800 MHz band with digital terrestrial television
Ofcom | Licensing Local Television - How Ofcom would exercise its new powers and duties being proposed by Government & Ofcom | Ofcom invites applications for first 21 local TV channels

Ofcom | Ofcom unveils plans for 4G auction of the airwaves is, no doubt, the original cause of this thread being started. :D
 
I don't think anyone knows for sure if Ofcom are to mandate DVB-T2 (stupid not to, though) OR mandate HD-only channels (instead also permitting SD, Radio, and Text services or no HD at all :eek:).

Unfortunately I cannot cite my source now [ just cant remember ] but I was under the firm impression that without doubt it will be T2.... in line with long term planning but as yet unspecified for the whole of the freeview spectrum to move to T2 'when the time is right' which presumably will be determined by T2 tuners having been the norm in equipment for many years.
I recall 2020 being speculated upon , but such things are likely to be circumstantially very elastic.

Also that the three new muxes were intended specifically for HD expansion.

All this was a year or so back, and nothing here is cast in stone so plans may have developed further in the interim.

Given that broadcasters and hardware manufacturers are already experimenting with Super Hi definition [ There is an experimental super-high-def feed from the BBC Olympics in association with NHK ] this may blur future planning still further.
 
Given that broadcasters and hardware manufacturers are already experimenting with Super Hi definition [ There is an experimental super-high-def feed from the BBC Olympics in association with NHK ] this may blur future planning still further.
I remember the BBC's experimental High Def stuff starting in the 1980s, some also in association with NHK ... 1988 was "the year of HDTV" at the International Broadcasting Convention in Brighton (albeit 'only' 1250 lines).

Regular UK HD broadcasts to the public started on 15th May 2006 via satellite (tests, official start 1st December 2007) and 2nd December 2009 terrestrially.

:lesson: No holding your breath for it!! ;)
 
Hi.
More Freeview capacity - COM7, COM8 and COM9 - in the 600MHz band | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice is certainly under the impression that com7/8/9 will be T2. Localtv looks like it'll be T.
What, if anything, and in what resolution all seems to be speculation.
Picture resolution and broadcast technology are somewhat unrelated. However, it simplifies things to say "HD mux" because the FreeviewHD spec mandates a T2 tuner...
Ultimately, it may all be a moot point; with the lords talking of such things as delivering all TV by IP and reallocating the whole broadcast spectrum to mobile technology...
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Regards, Iain.
 
Ultimately, it may all be a moot point; with the lords talking of such things as delivering all TV by IP and reallocating the whole broadcast spectrum to mobile technology...

The end of civilisation as we know it! :suicide:
 
I live about 200 yards from 2 4G base stations. Ofcom said that filters may not be sufficient so I may have to go to Freesat. Who is going to compensate me for my 2 Freeview HD Bluray recorders my Freeview HD PVR and assorted Freeview SD DVD recorders which will become redundant? My MP contacted the relevant minister on my behalf but so far no response.Apparently people going to Freesat will have a dish and ONE receiver! We must have 4G test transmissions before licenses are issued. If interference is discovered only after rollout of 4G there will be many angry people if they have to buy filters etc without having been warned.
 
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