Vodafone TV retirement plan: September 2022

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#2829493 9-Dec-2021 14:18

Rushmere:

According to Vodafone's FAQ:

Do I need to return my VodafoneTV box?
Once you’ve stopped using your VodafoneTV, we recommend you recycle your VodafoneTV box via our recycling programme and we’ll send you a pre-paid return courier bag.

Excellent, thanks for that.

Dynamic

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#2829494 9-Dec-2021 14:19

netspanner:

This is awesome, but so sad as well, Its a great little box and system, its a pity for it to be closed down and then to throw away all that technology. Will VF introduse another system like this?

Unfortunately no, @netspanner as the service did not get sufficient market share to make the service profitable (according to media articles I have read). Sounds like it is time to cut their losses. Hopefully the box Sky are releasing in mid 2022 will be a suitable replacement.

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tripp

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#2829495 9-Dec-2021 14:23

Dynamic:

netspanner:

This is awesome, but so sad as well, Its a great little box and system, its a pity for it to be closed down and then to throw away all that technology. Will VF introduse another system like this?

Unfortunately no, @netspanner as the service did not get sufficient market share to make the service profitable (according to media articles I have read). Sounds like it is time to cut their losses. Hopefully the box Sky are releasing in mid 2022 will be a suitable replacement.

Also live tv over internet is not an easy thing to do (with so many different parties). So many things can go wrong.

GSVNoFixedAbode

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#2829497 9-Dec-2021 14:24

sansom:

Hi Guys, we are preparing a box buy back process all customers who purchased these via a Vodafone retailer. The process will be available from around April on vtv.nz and we will be in contact with all these customers at that time.

@Sansom

Hamish, can we appeal to your/Vodafone's Corporate Responsibility, and beg for the option to be able to re-flash these* for those who did not purchase them? At our own risk, naturally. There will be a lot of these units that were bundled with the service provision like mine, that will end up as e-waste otherwise. That would be a good way to keep the otherwise-solid hardware living on.

[Edit] *Or provide enough information on the hardware for the community to come up with a solution.

Tatou

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#2829498 9-Dec-2021 14:31

Sad as I was very happy with current service including the Sky channels.

I suspect that I will be paying more for the same Sky content and other channels than I am currently paying with Vodafone

Vodafone HFC will have to be competitive with Fibre to keep me post the end of VTV.

The data, VTV and Sky channels all through one account was one factor keeping me with them (as well as the deal).

Off topic

Must go and cancel my Disney Plus subscription that I took out to see Get Back :-)

invisibleman18

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#2829500 9-Dec-2021 14:34

sansom:

invisibleman18:

I have the gen 1 box bundled with my broadband and use it to get Sky Sport which I don't want to give up so interested to see what the offer will be to retain the same deal with I assume with the new Sky box. I've quite liked it as it gave easy access to streaming apps via our older non smart TV (though I do have a PS4 and PS5 for those, but it was easier for my wife to only have to learn how to do it on the same device as the live TV). I quite liked it being via fibre rather than satellite as it cut out the weather interference which often happens in Wellington rain and wind. Found the 3 day catchup really handy for anything we watch on Freeview as there was no need to remember to record things, and sometimes it's more handy that way than going to TVNZ or TV3 on demand as you can fast forward the ads.

Thanks for the positive assessment! Where were you when I was dealing with the mainly negative comments on the other VTV thread on Trademe?! (oh, that's right, that was the Gen2 thread, and you're the invisibleman number 18 after all!)

Keep using the Sky on VTV and the details on the new Sky box offering and options for VTV Sky customers will become clearer later next year.

Thanks. As I said, Sky via Fibre is much better than satellite for weather interference in Wellington so prefer to be able to stick with that option, and hopefully don't end up paying more than currently. I can remember things like All Blacks world cup knockout games being unwatchable on particularly rainy or windy days back when I was on Sky with satellite. VTV has been a good service for me for the 4 years I've had it. Never had major issues other than the odd time there's been an internet outage, or the occasional freezing that turning the plug off and on has sorted.

Eva888

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#2829501 9-Dec-2021 14:35

Question. Our VTV box which included Sky was given to replace the Tbox. It includes Freeview.
If I now call Vodafone and drop Sky, will the Freeview part continue to work until September?

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

quickymart

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#2829502 9-Dec-2021 14:36

So...TV gone now too? What's left on the old cable network now? Internet only?

Dynamic

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#2829504 9-Dec-2021 14:40

Eva888: Question. Our VTV box which included Sky was given to replace the Tbox. It includes Freeview.
If I now call Vodafone and drop Sky, will the Freeview part continue to work until September?

Yes @Eva888 the box will keep working exactly as it does now until the end of September. I'll not be doing anything different for 6 months with my setup, and evaluate my options closer to shutdown time.

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sansom

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#2829509 9-Dec-2021 14:52

Dynamic:

netspanner:

This is awesome, but so sad as well, Its a great little box and system, its a pity for it to be closed down and then to throw away all that technology. Will VF introduse another system like this?

Unfortunately no, @netspanner as the service did not get sufficient market share to make the service profitable (according to media articles I have read). Sounds like it is time to cut their losses. Hopefully the box Sky are releasing in mid 2022 will be a suitable replacement.

Large parts of the solution are delivered by software and cloud based services provided by Vodafone Group (primarily the Kaltura CMS hosted on Vodafone Group's global instance using AWS). Yes, there was also investment locally... but don't worry, the servers we had to host locally (for performance / content distribution reasons) will be re-purposed. One of the big advantages of modern day service delivery via cloud is that much of it can scale up or down based on needs.

Vodafone won't be introducing another TV platform in the foreseeable future. We are really happy that Sky are creating what looks to be an awesome new option for customers who currently watch Sky on VTV.

Hamish

DjShadow

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#2829511 9-Dec-2021 14:57

quickymart:

So...TV gone now too? What's left on the old cable network now? Internet only?

That is my understanding

mattwnz

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#2829527 9-Dec-2021 15:06

Can we go back to the retailer now to get a refund under the CGA?

I purchased one from 'The Market', who are the agent for Noel Leemings. But the invoice is from the market and all warranty stuff has to go through the market. So I can see that isn't going to be easy.

Rushmere

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#2829532 9-Dec-2021 15:15

mattwnz:

Can we go back to the retailer now to get a refund under the CGA?

I purchased one from 'The Market', who are the agent for Noel Leemings. But the invoice is from the market and all warranty stuff has to go through the market. So I can see that isn't going to be easy.

'The Market' isn't just an agent, it's part of the same company as Noel Leeming (they're all owned by The Warehouse Group), so that shouldn't cause any problem. Although you could technically go back to the retailer, it'll probably be easier to go via Vodafone, especially when the product is still working and will continue to do so until next September.

sansom

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#2829541 9-Dec-2021 15:24

GSVNoFixedAbode:

@Sansom

Hamish, can we appeal to your/Vodafone's Corporate Responsibility, and beg for the option to be able to re-flash these* for those who did not purchase them? At our own risk, naturally. There will be a lot of these units that were bundled with the service provision like mine, that will end up as e-waste otherwise. That would be a good way to keep the otherwise-solid hardware living on.

[Edit] *Or provide enough information on the hardware for the community to come up with a solution.

Okay, plea heard. I'll investigate. Can't promise anything, mind, as the operating system bootloader is owned and controlled by Vodafone Group. The bootloader is the very short piece of code that loads the operating system and shows the large grey Vodafone logo very briefly before the red Vodafone logo swoosh and start up tune. I know they will be pretty hard to shift on allowing anyone to change the bootloader, but I'll try.

Hamish

01EG

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#2829543 9-Dec-2021 15:27

Is this model https://www.dishtv.co.nz/Refurbished?product_id=216 can be alternative to Vodafone TV? Looks to me it can stream the freeview TV?

Cheers

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