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fibre optic: is it worth it?
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Old 29-08-2008, 23:16   #16
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Re: fibre optic is ist worth it?

Thanks for letting me know about the 50MB pricing structure, however, i'm sure Virgin Media will change that and do a free upgrade especially if a competitor rolls in offering the same speed for half the price.

Why I say that they will upgrade 20MB customers to 50MB at no extra monthly cost is because O2 Broadband are able to offer that at a very low cost in comparison to Virgin Media, however, the chances are quite thin which is why Virgin still charge a lot of money for 20MB, lastly a company called H20-Fibrecity is planning to launch fibre optic broadband in Bornemouth, they think using the sewers rather than digging up roads will be cost effective fast, apparently a whole city can be wired up within 6 to 10 months, so the whole country could be done within 5 years and it would be fibre optic right to the outside of the premises, so that would be perfect for IPTV which is on its way.

However, I have a feeling that this H20-Fibrecity will be a flop because of its late entrancy into the market and because of the credit crunch, you never know what might happen to the economy lol

So I think Virgin should copy what H20 is doing and start cabling non-cabled areas in that way.

If Virgin Media's network was 100% fibre optic and I mean 100% would they still be able to provide Digital and Analogue TV down that same Cable??? Obviously the Telephones wouldnt work as you would use Voip for that.
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Old 29-08-2008, 23:23   #17
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Re: fibre optic is ist worth it?

Virgin can't afford to build out new areas with existing cable technology let alone with fibre to the home.

Virgin can't afford to offer free upgrades at this time as it requires new modems which are still not cheap. O2 / Be have offered 20/24Mbit services significantly cheaper than Virgin Media for some time and there's been no competitive action from Virgin to address it since the 20Mbit upgrade.

100% fibre optic network can provide analogue TV however why would you want to?

Presently TV over fibre at least in the USA isn't IPTV but is delivered in the same way that the fibre optic segment of Virgin's network carries the TV signal. Digital signals modulated onto an RF carrier, multiplexed and carried on a particular wavelength on the fibre then demodulated at the home. The NTU converts the optical signal into RF to be carried on a bit of coax to a set top box. You could do similar with analogue if you chose carrying it on wavelengths on the fibre.

They could certainly also provide telephony, infact BT's Ebbsfleet trial provides for telephony using a standard telephone. Your dial tone comes from the NTU again, which is battery backed up to continue to provide telephone service during power failure. You just plug the phone into a port in the home which goes back to the NTU which allocates a 64kbit digital channel in a kinda similar manner to telephony over ISDN.
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Old 30-08-2008, 00:30   #18
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Re: fibre optic is ist worth it?

No I mentioned Digital and Analogue, there are still just under 200,000 analogue users out there!

Furthermore,some countries may still use Analogue cable systems like we had, so I was just wondering really.

Actually, since you mentioned it, why not use Analogue Cable. I mean for someone that just wants basic 20 channels,basic features and no interactive stuff for a small fee of say £4 per month, why not! I mean is it gonna do much harm if they broadcast a handful of channels using analogue signals. I've heard a lot of elderly people complaining about the digital switchover and saying that they are happy with what they used to have.

And werent Virgin Media planning to sell off Flextech/Virgin Media Television for a valuated price of £600 Million, thats more than enough to cable the sewers and reach non cabled areas. Or rather than do that, they could sell there share in UKTV and maybe sell off Challenge TV as I heard viewings are slipping for it.

Its just that H20 claims that it is cheaper to cable the place via the sewers as it saves money digging up and re-patching roads and the ground ect....
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Old 30-08-2008, 00:39   #19
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Re: fibre optic: is it worth it?

Even laying cable in sewers where possible some areas aren't going to be doable that way and will need some digging, as will the drops to everyone's homes. You also need local authority cooperation in a big way to use the sewers

20 channels over analogue still needs an STB or other converter, may as well just be digital with an analogue output. Elderly people probably are complaining due to having to purchase a Freeview receiver.

£600 million won't go nearly as far as you might think even going through the sewers and will likely be expected to pay down some of that £6 billion debt.
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Old 30-08-2008, 01:29   #20
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Re: fibre optic: is it worth it?

This is the website for Fibrecity: www.fibrecity.eu

Didnt say that you didnt need a set top box although you can pick up BBC1,BBC2,ITV1,Channel 4,Five,British Eurosport,Hallmark,BBC News 24 (All freeview channels basically) without a set top box, this is allowed in Milton Keynes as the Cable network there was orignally designed for basic channels so that people dont clobber roofs with aerials. Some of the neightbours upstairs want there analogue cable back! They hate Digital cable.

But i'm glad to see the back off analogue terrestrial, the days of grainy and fuzzy pictures are gone. From my experience, London and the south coast are awful for analogue terrestrial especially Channel 5!
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Old 30-08-2008, 11:13   #21
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Re: fibre optic is ist worth it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Broadbandings View Post
Quick mention, 20Mbit is not scheduled to be upgraded to 50Mbit, 50Mbit will be a new tier, not a free upgrade.
Oh I think I will.
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