Will plusnet consider offering BT Vision?

[#1]

Quote from: PeterLoftus

I vote for Plusnets model value for money and good phone and broadband services with UK based support services.

However I think there must be customers who want good quality UK based customer service and YouView and video on demand.  The two things should not be mutually exclusive nor Plusnet more technologically primitive just because it is BT of Yorkshire
BT will have got a huge discount on the Humax YouView boxes due to the number they will have purchased,  so I'm not necessarily asking that we get them free but at least at  a price that benefits from that substantial kind of discount and Plusnet being part of the BT Group.  After all Plusnet seems to have got a very big discount indeed from Technicolor for clearing their warehouse of several hundred thousand otherwise redundant 582n wireless broadband routers.
So what I'm saying is that Plusnet does not need to give out YouView boxes to all its broadband customers as a blanket thing but should combine providing them at a low cost with a decent range of IPTV video services for those customers who want such services, whilst still having a cheaper plain vanilla version of its broadband service for those who don't.

[#2]

With the number of 'smart TVs', PVRs, Ex-trial YouView boxes etc. out there I'd not want PN to do as BT have and offer 'free' YouView boxes (that other customers subsidise somewhere along the line) BUT I'd welcome some kind of IPTV delivery service that customers could use (with pay-for-use channels or programs for those who want them so NOT subsidised by others but a self-sustaining business model).  Personally, if I could obtain something akin to the Sky 'kids package' over internet multicast for a fair price I'd immediately terminate my Sky contract.

[#3]

Quote from: w23

With the number of 'smart TVs', PVRs, Ex-trial YouView boxes etc. out there I'd not want PN to do as BT have and offer 'free' YouView boxes (that other customers subsidise somewhere along the line) BUT I'd welcome some kind of IPTV delivery service that customers could use (with pay-for-use channels or programs for those who want them so NOT subsidised by others but a self-sustaining business model).  Personally, if I could obtain something akin to the Sky 'kids package' over internet multicast for a fair price I'd immediately terminate my Sky contract.

It sounds like we are of a similar mind then.  I'm not saying that Plusnet should cross subsidise YouView at the expense of customers who want the cheapest bargain basement 10Gb capped copper broadband connection but I do think that IPTV services and a YouView box to support them (since the Humax product seems much better than those rubbishy old Netgem tv web streaming devices) should be part of the Plusnet product arsenal.
I also have no time for most of the junk tv channels turned out by Sky (which is why I don't subscribe even though I do have desubscribed box with valid FTV viewing card connected to my Tivo S1 PVR to record from) but could do with a package that gives me Eurosport, National Geographic and Sky Sports F1 all in HD.  If I could get all that for about a tenner a month rather than Sky's pricing of at least £30 per month then I might be interested (I might be tempted to pay as much as £12.99 per month but no more).  Bear in mind for instance that Eurosport only charges about £2.50 per month to subscribe to their own direct streaming web tv service on an annual basis but the problem with that service is that Video On Demand is limited and you cannot record the live broadcast only stuff.

[#4]

We're in the early stages of TV trials with staff. We are excited about the opportunities this will extend to our customers in the near future but as yet, have no fixed timings for a public launch.

[#5]

[Takes one step forward already in anticipation of customer trial volunteers being requested]

[#6]

Quote from: Chris

We're in the early stages of TV trials with staff. We are excited about the opportunities this will extend to our customers in the near future but as yet, have no fixed timings for a public launch.

Chris,
Its good of you to be forthcoming with some kind of positive information from a customer point of view, although if the main business objective of BT in running Plusnet as a separate Yorkshire brand is to offer cheaper services than the BT brand for those not permanently brain washed from birth in to never considering any alternative to BT (eg my brother in law) one wonders how it can actually be cost effective to completely reinvent the wheel so to speak rather than to merely rebrand an already tried and tested BT IPTV product offering?
Also with great respect did you not actually previously have real live customer trials of YouView boxes more than a year ago and if so what exactly happened to those trials and why was the YouView service never rolled out as a subsequent live product to your main customer base?

[#7]

There's not a great deal I can add to the post I've made already.

Quote

how it can actually be cost effective to completely reinvent the wheel so to speak rather than to merely rebrand an already tried and tested BT IPTV product offering?

That's not what I've said? I didn't mention any specific platform or TV systems.

Quote

Also with great respect did you not actually previously have real live customer trials of YouView boxes more than a year ago and if so what exactly happened to those trials and why was the YouView service never rolled out as a subsequent live product to your main customer base?

Not to my knowledge? If we did I completely missed us running a customer trial on any TV service. Unless you mean this, which wasn't anything to do with Plusnet.

[#8]

Quote from: Chris

Not to my knowledge? If we did I completely missed us running a customer trial on any TV service. Unless you mean this, which wasn't anything to do with Plusnet.

Sorry my mistake.  I had misread that as being a specific YouView trial for Plusnet customers by Plusnet whereas clearly it was just a general trial of YouView across all ISPs by YouView before it was launched commercially by BT and TalkTalk.
Its good news to hear that something is now finally happening at Plusnet on the IPTV front.  Also point taken that the technology may not actually be being completely reinvented for IPTV delivery compared to BT's system (even though rather distressingly that is the case for Plusnet's email systems with not very happy results at all for the current stability of its webmail platform) but even if it is their system it no doubt has to be made available on your servers and also appropriately rebranded (including possibly different content).  And I am sure that I may very well say that and that you could not possibly comment in your position as a member of staff in advance of any official product launch.

[#9]

Chris - if you need any extra volunteers for any PVR type trial, put my name down.
I run a mixture of MythTV, XBMC and TVHeadend on Linux servers etc and have done for years so have a pretty good background in this kind of thing

[#10]

I bought outright a Youview box from Richer Sounds a few months ago, and am satisified with it. I would not want Plusnet to offer a Youview box for "free", as it would be subsidised by higher prices elsewhere, and Youview is not the right product for everyone.  I would however like to be able to pay someone (ideally Plusnet) to give me Lovefilm/Netflix and certain specific pay-TV channels through my Youview box - as it stands, you can only get this if your Youview box comes from BT or TalkTalk.
The Youview software is better than most EPGs/PVRs - e.g. you can "Search" by title for a TV programme, and it will find all instances of it from the Freeview HD channels EPG and the recordings you've made on the HardDisc and the IPTV services (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD, Demand 5) and let you view it from there.  However the software is still not a pleasure to use - there are occasional glitches, it isn't always intuitive, it's a bit slow, it doesn't do things in the way you want, and for a gadget lover like me, it doesn't fill me with button-pushing joy like a new piece of tech should.
Several years ago, I was part of a fetchtv (NOT Youview) trial that Plusnet put me on, but the set-top boxes died (twice) and the software/firmware was flaky.  Also there wasn't a good enough range of services (only BBC iPlayer, plus Freeview, and pay-per-episode/series from a small selection of programmes/films).

[#11]

I don't want, nor am i prepared to pay for a repackaged BT product/hybrid  box that just offers freeview with some OTT/VOD content as they're shit frankly.
So I really do hope they're reinventing the wheel...

[#12]

Quote from: Chris

We're in the early stages of TV trials with staff. We are excited about the opportunities this will extend to our customers in the near future but as yet, have no fixed timings for a public launch

If ever you are looking for volunteers I am up for it.

[#13]

Quote from: Chris

We're in the early stages of TV trials with staff. We are excited about the opportunities this will extend to our customers in the near future but as yet, have no fixed timings for a public launch.

What about a customer trial (rather than a public launch)?  A number of people have expressed interest in a trial in this thread. Are there any plans for this?
I'll quite happily join the list of those interested.

[#14]

There's nothing else I can add at the moment to the post you've quoted, sorry!

[#15]

Thanks Chris for letting us know there are trials in progress with Plusnet staff regarding the possible release of a TV service. Come on guys given Chris some slack here as he can't give you any more details until he's authorised from the Plusnet Management and no doubt he will as soon as he's allowed. Until then help him out with suggestions on what you would like on the service so they can do some future planing to try and give the customer what they request unlike other providers.
Our household like Sport (premier league football/rugby and boxing),newly released films and on demand services all in one box anything else we can get from the Freeview/Freesat eg main stream TV and Children's channels. We would prefer fewer quality channels than thousands of rubbish channels like Sky or a rehash of Freeview like BT   
Just before I go can I mention that if you need any help with trials I'm always available to help out just ask space can be made available under TV any-time