New Sky cards no longer on saleo
 

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News Article ID: 6786
02 December 2003
No more Sky free-view cards after December
THE much-vaunted solus scheme, which lets people with Sky receivers buy a
ITV/C4/Five viewing card for £23.50, ends on December 31.

From the New Year, the only way viewers will be able to get the free-to-view
commercial stations will be to pay for a Sky subscription. No attempts have
been made to warn the trade or public.

The Government estimates that more than 750,000 households are affected.
Dealers face customer complaints if they sell Sky receivers for free-to-air
viewing after the end of the year.

For the full story, click here to receive information about subscribing to
ERT Weekly, the industry's leading journal.

IOOA wrote:
THE much-vaunted solus scheme, which lets people with Sky receivers buy a
ITV/C4/Five viewing card for £23.50, ends on December 31.

Thanks for the warning - where can one get such a card in the meantime?

Glenn.

Glenn,

You can get a Solus card by phoning 0870 054 1800 - this is the free-to-view
card management service set up by ITV/C4/Five and administered by CH4.

Cards are charged at a one-off cost of £23.50 (inc VAT) for residential
customers

Best regards
Biggles

"Glenn Proctor" wrote in message
...
IOOA wrote:
THE much-vaunted solus scheme, which lets people with Sky receivers buy
a
ITV/C4/Five viewing card for £23.50, ends on December 31.

Thanks for the warning - where can one get such a card in the meantime?

Glenn.

chris9901 wrote:
Glenn,

You can get a Solus card by phoning 0870 054 1800 - this is the free-to-view
card management service set up by ITV/C4/Five and administered by CH4.

Thanks, I shall do so tomorrow.

Glenn.

IOOA wrote:

Quote:
No more Sky free-view cards after December
THE much-vaunted solus scheme, which lets people with Sky receivers buy a
ITV/C4/Five viewing card for £23.50, ends on December 31.

This sounds suspiciously like nonsense.

AFAIK only the web-based card replacement service ends on Dec 31. The
phone-based new card service is supposedly to continue. I find it hard
to imagine that they would have gone to all this trouble to set up
such a temporary thing.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/tez5
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

"Jomtien" wrote in message


IOOA wrote:

Quote:
No more Sky free-view cards after December
THE much-vaunted solus scheme, which lets people with Sky receivers buy a
ITV/C4/Five viewing card for £23.50, ends on December 31.

This sounds suspiciously like nonsense.

AFAIK only the web-based card replacement service ends on Dec 31. The
phone-based new card service is supposedly to continue. I find it hard
to imagine that they would have gone to all this trouble to set up
such a temporary thing.



That's right, Jomtien.

It sounds like a "PC World" / "Officer's Club" / John Stalker's Blinds
offer ends soon type bull-**** to make people pay up. And for accounting
reasons, it may well close on 31/12/2003. Coincidently a new company
will emerge on 01/01/2004?

The DCMS are going to still have a problem on 01/01/2004, if Digital
Satellite is not available to deliver Public Service channels to the
citizen.

I had a meeting with my MP yesterday about other matters, and she said
she had received quite a bit of correspondence about the Solus problem,
and that around the country, people in rural areas or dips not covered
by FREEVIEW had been writing to their MPs about this.




http://logofreetv.org/


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

"This sounds suspiciously like nonsense."
It may sound like it, but is correct at the current time. There is NO noew
compan y going to magically appear, since it is the ITV/CH4/Five
broadcasters who are running the current Solus card offer - the card cost of
£23.50 purely covers the cost of the card from Sky and some of the admin
costs.

Obviously the arrangement might be extended, but I wouldn't rely on this,
and at present the situation is as I have described in previous post.
Bear in mind that ITV/CH4/Five are only required to broadcast on analogue
and DTT - their presence on DSAT is a purely commercial decision, and
involves several £M of extra costs.


If you wish to verify this, why not phone them and ask them on 0870 054 1800
Or phone BSkyB customer services call centre and ask them. Their phone
number is 08702 430604

Incidentally, when people are lobbying their MP's, why not also ask why the
government still extracts in excess of £200M per annum from ITV/CH4/Five in
"supertax" for the priveledge of broadcasting on analogue and DTT. Removing
this tax would certainly encourage the broadcasters to afford the expense of
transmitting on 3 different systems to reach one population!

Best regards
Chris9901

"Heracles Pollux" wrote in message
news:[email protected] .mailgate.org...
"Jomtien" wrote in message


IOOA wrote:

Quote:
No more Sky free-view cards after December
THE much-vaunted solus scheme, which lets people with Sky receivers buy
a
ITV/C4/Five viewing card for £23.50, ends on December 31.

This sounds suspiciously like nonsense.

AFAIK only the web-based card replacement service ends on Dec 31. The
phone-based new card service is supposedly to continue. I find it hard
to imagine that they would have gone to all this trouble to set up
such a temporary thing.



That's right, Jomtien.

It sounds like a "PC World" / "Officer's Club" / John Stalker's Blinds
offer ends soon type bull-**** to make people pay up. And for accounting
reasons, it may well close on 31/12/2003. Coincidently a new company
will emerge on 01/01/2004?

The DCMS are going to still have a problem on 01/01/2004, if Digital
Satellite is not available to deliver Public Service channels to the
citizen.

I had a meeting with my MP yesterday about other matters, and she said
she had received quite a bit of correspondence about the Solus problem,
and that around the country, people in rural areas or dips not covered
by FREEVIEW had been writing to their MPs about this.




http://logofreetv.org/


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

chris9901 wrote:

"This sounds suspiciously like nonsense."
It may sound like it, but is correct at the current time. There is NO noew
compan y going to magically appear, since it is the ITV/CH4/Five
broadcasters who are running the current Solus card offer - the card cost of
£23.50 purely covers the cost of the card from Sky and some of the admin
costs.

Obviously the arrangement might be extended, but I wouldn't rely on this,
and at present the situation is as I have described in previous post.

Where is there any suggestion that there will be a magical "new
company" or indeed that the old one will stop? I have seen no
indication of either anywhere at all, apart from in your post.

AFAIK the web-based replacement card service will cease on Dec 31 as
foreseen since the website started and the standard phone based new
card service will continue, just as it did for the last five years but
with a £23.50 charge.

Someone is making a lot of money out of selling cards worth just a
couple of pounds for £23.50 - I get a full year's subscription to a
glossy PC magazine for this, including delivery.
I doubt that they will wish to stop.


If you wish to verify this, why not phone them and ask them on 0870 054 1800
Or phone BSkyB customer services call centre and ask them. Their phone
number is 08702 430604

Sky phone CS don't even know that FTV cards exist. In fact, about the
only thing they do seem to know is today's weather in Bombay and how
much a chappati costs.

We'll know for sure in 24 days, anyway. I hope you're wrong as
otherwise all that DCMS poncing and posturing will start again.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/tez5
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 09:57:27 GMT, Jomtien wrote:

Sky phone CS don't even know that FTV cards exist. In fact, about the
only thing they do seem to know is today's weather in Bombay and how
much a chappati costs.

Sad that you're SO desperate to have a go at Sky that you have to
resort to out-and-out racism..

Ant wrote:

Sky phone CS don't even know that FTV cards exist. In fact, about the
only thing they do seem to know is today's weather in Bombay and how
much a chappati costs.

Sad that you're SO desperate to have a go at Sky that you have to
resort to out-and-out racism..

There is not one jot of racism in my post and I resent the suggestion
that there is. If you see any then you are imagining things, and that
won't be the first time, will it?

If you want proof about Sky CS's lack of knowledge of FTV cards then
just ring them yourself. Their superior local knowledge of Bombay
comes purely from their geographical location, and not from the colour
of their skin.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/tez5
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

"Ant" wrote in message


On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 09:57:27 GMT, Jomtien wrote:

Sky phone CS don't even know that FTV cards exist. In fact, about the
only thing they do seem to know is today's weather in Bombay and how
much a chappati costs.

Sad that you're SO desperate to have a go at Sky that you have to
resort to out-and-out racism..



Speaking of which: How many white, african, and oriental people work in
that call centre in Bombay?

;-)


(Racism is bad, ok...)





--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 09:09:48 GMT, Jomtien wrote:

There is not one jot of racism in my post and I resent the suggestion
that there is. If you see any then you are imagining things, and that
won't be the first time, will it?

If you want proof about Sky CS's lack of knowledge of FTV cards then
just ring them yourself. Their superior local knowledge of Bombay
comes purely from their geographical location, and not from the colour
of their skin.

So where are your posts about "The only thing Sky Customer Service are
good for is telling you the weather in Livingstone and the price of
Irn Bru?" - I don't see you making an issue of the nationality of the
call centre workers in Scotland, so why do you make an issue for those
in India?

If you intended no slur then I accept that, but frankly what you said
is the very meat and drink of "everyday" racism that hardcore racists
feed upon.

OK, I've just called the FTV card people on 0870 054 1800.

Apparently I don't need a FTV card as I've got a new style (dark blue
with a yellow house) Sky card.

The person I spoke to did say that the service - both web /and/ phone -
was being withdrawn on 31st December.

She also said that Sky were telling people that they would be unable to
receive FTV channels with just a Sky card after 31st December, but that
this was not the case.

Seems there's a lot of confusion. I may wait a couple of months to see
what happens.

Glenn.

I'd rather have a chappati than a haggis any day :-)

"Jomtien" wrote in message
...
Ant wrote:

Sky phone CS don't even know that FTV cards exist. In fact, about the
only thing they do seem to know is today's weather in Bombay and how
much a chappati costs.

Sad that you're SO desperate to have a go at Sky that you have to
resort to out-and-out racism..

There is not one jot of racism in my post and I resent the suggestion
that there is. If you see any then you are imagining things, and that
won't be the first time, will it?

If you want proof about Sky CS's lack of knowledge of FTV cards then
just ring them yourself. Their superior local knowledge of Bombay
comes purely from their geographical location, and not from the colour
of their skin.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/tez5
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

In article ,
says...
I'd rather have a chappati than a haggis any day :-)

You'd like a chap's what?
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor),
/* 959 DVDs, 266 games, 33 videos, 68 cinema films, 70 CDs, laserdiscs & news
/* max payne 2, daewoo setpal, hamtaro, yesspeak, rainbow six 3, terminator 3
ITV "blackouts" on Sky Digital - http://tinyurl.com/w4mf
(UPDATED) Adam Shaw to host HIGNFY! - http://tinyurl.com/w4m7

Glenn Proctor wrote:

The person I spoke to did say that the service - both web /and/ phone -
was being withdrawn on 31st December.

If true that really is daft. And dafter not to even make it clear.
Mind you, daftness is par for the course in everything to do with FTV
cards. Rarely have I seen a bigger mess.


She also said that Sky were telling people that they would be unable to
receive FTV channels with just a Sky card after 31st December, but that
this was not the case.

I don't see how the FTV people can know what Sky may or may not do. If
Sky choose to allow old series 2 cards to continue to decode the FTV
channels, they can. If they choose not to, they can too. The FTV card
people have no say in it.


Seems there's a lot of confusion.

You can say that again.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/tez5
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

Ant wrote:

If you want proof about Sky CS's lack of knowledge of FTV cards then
just ring them yourself. Their superior local knowledge of Bombay
comes purely from their geographical location, and not from the colour
of their skin.

So where are your posts about "The only thing Sky Customer Service are
good for is telling you the weather in Livingstone and the price of
Irn Bru?" - I don't see you making an issue of the nationality of the
call centre workers in Scotland, so why do you make an issue for those
in India?

Oh , I see. Racism by omission, is it?

I don't make an issue about the nationality of the people in
Livingston because I neither know their nationality nor care about it.
I don't know the nationality of those in Bombay either, nor do I care.
One thing I do know is that I have spent nearly all my adult life
outside the UK, and much of that time was spent in the Far East. I
hope to end my days in the Far East too. If I want to go to a
restaurant it is most likely to be to a Thai, Vietnamese or Indian
one. I can understand and speak several eastern languages to a small
extent. I doubt that I would do any of that if was racist.
I don't like the French though, but what true Brit does?

I have many times commented on the incompetence and/or bad training of
Sky CS in Livingston and this has not changed. What is certain though
is that at least there is a small chance that the ones in Scotland
have actually seen a working Sky digibox, unlike the ones in Bombay.
To expect them to know anything about FTV cards would be silly when
even Sky management and the DCMS don't seem to know what they are.


If you intended no slur then I accept that,

Very generous of you, I'm sure.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/tez5
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)