Future strategy rethink is needed regarding Wi-Fi based television services

[stereohaven]

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@SKY1992bf wrote:

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@stereohaven wrote:

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@Invisiblename wrote:

If ever there was a reason to use the block option....

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I did not know that functionality existed, very helpful! 👍🏻

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  Unfortunately online applies to pms

@stereohaven @Invisiblename 

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😲 😞

[Dobber1234]

Hello I know nothing we say as sky customers here on this forum will make a difference but I just thought I would let you know there is a friend of mine that works as an engineer installing satellite dishes and set top boxes et cetera he is quite worried about the future of satellite TV as it will put him out of work if they go to a fully Wi-Fi based system and move away from the current one leaving aside my concerns which I have said many times here on this forum there is also that side of it to think of if they go ahead with this change Which I know seems to be the inevitable path it will leave lots of people like my friend out of work that's another reason why I think it's a retrograde step

[Daniel0210]

@Dobber1234 

No need for multiple threads. I've moved your latest one into the main thread.

A number of satellite engineers were made redundant last year and unfortunately it's an inevitable consequence of satellite broadcasting finishing at the end of this decade.

[Dobber1234]

It may be inevitable, but it's still not fair to put people out of work like that

[AndrewF_UK]

@Dobber1234 it's the nature of work. When roles become redundant it would be foolish for a company to keep them on. People can always retrain.

Being employed by a company isn't a lifelong commitment from either party. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Dobber1234 wrote:

It may be inevitable, but it's still not fair to put people out of work like that

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So they should be kept on despite satellite dish installation and maintenance no longer being required on account of there not being any satellite broadcasting to receive? 

Kind of difficult to see what they would spend their days doing, apart from driving those vans around in circles.

[Dobber1234]

And now I noticed it's not just sky TV that are at this it seems virgin media are forcing people to switch to Internet based TV as well as my friend said he doesn't understand it because satellite TV is the easiest and best option all round as the saying goes if something is not broken Why fix it? It's crazy absolutely crazy to change a whole landscape of watching TV if they must do it then there should be on offer a mix of both not getting rid of satellite altogether. And I don't hold with this excuse that when the satellites run out of fuel that is it that is only a cop out if they really wanted to keep them going they would do it or find a way to do it to change an entire industry and way of doing things is ridiculous. I am so angry at the end of the day it is we the customer that pays the bill I am paying for a satellite TV service that is all I want and I'm sure there is quite a number of people around the world just like me that feel the same Get real people keep satellite TV going

[Daniel0210]

@Dobber1234 

It's pointless you going on and on with the same thing every day or two. It's not going to happen

[SKY1992bf]

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@Dobber1234 wrote:

And now I noticed it's not just sky TV that are at this it seems virgin media are forcing people to switch to Internet based TV as well as my friend said he doesn't understand it because satellite TV is the easiest and best option all round as the saying goes if something is not broken Why fix it? It's crazy absolutely crazy to change a whole landscape of watching TV if they must do it then there should be on offer a mix of both not getting rid of satellite altogether. And I don't hold with this excuse that when the satellites run out of fuel that is it that is only a cop out if they really wanted to keep them going they would do it or find a way to do it to change an entire industry and way of doing things is ridiculous. I am so angry at the end of the day it is we the customer that pays the bill I am paying for a satellite TV service that is all I want and I'm sure there is quite a number of people around the world just like me that feel the same Get real people keep satellite TV going

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To my knowledge virgin has never provided tv over satellite, in fact sky (in all its incoronations) is the only broadcaster to provide tv over satellite 

[PandJ2020]

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@SKY1992bf wrote:

To my knowledge virgin has never provided tv over satellite, in fact sky (in all its incoronations) is the only broadcaster to provide tv over satellite 

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Indeed.  Virgin have transmitted TV services over their own network infrastructure for donkey's years.  It doesn't suffer the same issues as satellite transmission such as inclement weather or alignment issues.

[SKY1992bf]

@Dobber1234  In case you aren't aware sky doesn't own any of the satellites it uses they just lease space from the owners 

if you don't believe or accept anything that people have said about the future of satellite contact the owners and ask them about any future plans to replace their satellite fleet 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Dobber1234 wrote:

And I don't hold with this excuse that when the satellites run out of fuel that is it that is only a cop out if they really wanted to keep them going they would do it or find a way to do it

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a) Finance at least one replacement orbital platform, at around £80,000,000 apiece 

Or

b) Repeal several of Newton's Laws of Motion 

[TimmyBGood]

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@SKY1992bf wrote:

@Dobber1234  

if you don't believe or accept anything that people have said about the future of satellite contact the owners and ask them about any future plans to replace their satellite fleet 

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[Dallybally]

Virgin have never transmitted by satellite, and I could be totally wrong here, but they used to have offices in Nottingham near me, and they had huge satellite dishes on. I always assumed (I know, I know) that they were beaming in the satellite signal then shoving it out over cable. That was years ago though, if sky are doing internet I'm sure virgin is now. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Dobber1234 wrote:

And now I noticed it's not just sky TV that are at this it seems virgin media are forcing people to switch to Internet based TV as well

Virgin Media has always been a cable television company.  A clue about their terrestrial (and indeed subterranean) bias is in the description: insisting on 22,236 mile-long coaxial feeds from orbit to subscription households would be somewhat unpopular with passing aircraft.

as my friend said he doesn't understand it because satellite TV is the easiest and best option all round

Satellite dish reception, perhaps.  Exactly what is 'easy' about building, launching and operating geosynchronous orbital broadcast hardware and its associated groundstation transmission infrastructure?

as the saying goes if something is not broken Why fix it?

Running out of positioning fuel and burning up on atmospheric re-entry might reasonably count as 'broken'.

It's crazy absolutely crazy to change a whole landscape of watching TV if they must do it then there should be on offer a mix of both not getting rid of satellite altogether.

Logically there cannot be 'a mix of both' without at least one satellite in position to broadcast, and as I've repeatedly tried to emphasize, gravity is a factor.

to change an entire industry and way of doing things is ridiculous.

Stagecoach postillions, gaslamp lighters and locomotive stokers probably agree with you on that point at least.

I am so angry at the end of the day it is we the customer that pays the bill I am paying for a satellite TV service that is all I want and I'm sure there is quite a number of people around the world just like me that feel the same 

'Around the world' isn't under the footprint of Astra 28.2E though : that's inhabited by a relatively tiny potential audience in two small islands who are increasingly using only online resources anyway.  In the absence of other subscribers, a pertinent question might be what proportion of £80,000,000 (plus annual running costs) are you personally prepared to contribute?

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Edit: if you do happen to win the EuroMillions on Tuesday, the Luxembourg address of Société Anonyme SES is in my post above.  I'm sure they'd be delighted to have a new investor onboard, although even a generous offer to privately finance replacements for Astra 2E, 2F and 2G doesn't necessarily mean that Comcast/Sky is going to want to use them...