Fibre TV Being Retired

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Fibre TV Being Retired

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13 posts

Geek
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#1311624 25-May-2015 21:22

xcubed: Yeah, less than two days notice is poor form.

They're still advertising Fibre TV on their website as a key feature of their service (and one of my reasons for choosing them).
And they're not even providing an alternative for existing customers, such as a discounted (or free) unblock.us subscription.

Simple answer is they can't. If they did that they would soon have Sky etc coming after them for promoting a way around. In this case it's clear they are playing it safe and who would really blame them for that? They are not the first to stop offering a "world Mode" and before the court date I'm sure they wont be the last.

deadlyllama

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#1311626 25-May-2015 21:24

They could at least offer a bill credit/etc to make up for the reduced service.

toejam316

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#1311676 25-May-2015 22:06

I keep seeing negatives with MyRepublic, very few positives since I joined up. Honestly, the only thing holding me down now is the knowledge that I'll have to pay the next ISP for a static IP again, so I'm trying to hold out for Snap/2DM new plans or BigPipe to arrive here.

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Yabanize

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#1311704 25-May-2015 23:20

Nothing has happened in court, they should've folded just because they are threatened

All of the global mode ISP's should band together to fight this..

Itr0nic

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#1311737 26-May-2015 05:37

toejam316: I keep seeing negatives with MyRepublic, very few positives since I joined up. Honestly, the only thing holding me down now is the knowledge that I'll have to pay the next ISP for a static IP again, so I'm trying to hold out for Snap/2DM new plans or BigPipe to arrive here.

People tend to blow things why out of proportion , I myself love MR. Customer service has been great and speed wise with my experience has been really good. Fibre tv i can do a work around in 5 minutes so no problem there .

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marvinnz

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Geek
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#1311741 26-May-2015 06:39

Yabanize: Nothing has happened in court, they should've folded just because they are threatened
All of the global mode ISP's should band together to fight this..

MyRepublic is a small telco still. If sky have their way the case will cost big $$$ and drag on. Wouldn't you rather see them be able to use that money they would have to spend on legal fees on customer service or other products? For a small telco its way smarter to stop offering and wait and see. It's not like they are the only ones to have stopped offering it. Not as if Hola or a vpn are hard to set up for an user.

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FletchNZ

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#1311803 26-May-2015 08:58

FYI - got a response from MR via facebook
Unfortunately yes, we will be retiring Fibre TV, our version of global mode, this Wednesday. We're gutted about it too, however our hand was forced. Sorry about that but our main focus at this stage is getting New Zealanders connected to fibre so the whole country can enjoy the benefits of ultra fast and unlimited broadband.

Donased

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#1312330 26-May-2015 22:02

My fibre TV shut down about 2 hrs ago.

Switched over to hola so we are back but its going to be annoying for those using smart tvs.

freitasm

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#1312360 26-May-2015 22:50

I used Hola a few years ago. Abandoned it when it became a bit intrusive - currently using UnoTelly. Currently both UnoTelly and DNS4Me have discount codes ("geekzone") if you want to use them.

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#1312384 27-May-2015 00:23

sbiddle:
FletchNZ: My understanding is that the TV companies dont have a leg to stand on legally so why upset your customers by removing a feature.

They do have a leg to stand on, and there is a very real possibility that CallPlus could well lose their court case.

My personal view is that Global Mode style services are legal, however the issue is incredibly complex. If I were a betting person I certainly wouldn't be putting my money on any one side - this could go any way.

The problem with GM was the way it was advertised had it been advertised for any other reason than for getting around geo-blocking of netflix, bbc iPlayer etc etc then nothing would have happened and everyone would still be happily getting their US NetFlix

JRC4779

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Wannabe Geek

#1312737 27-May-2015 13:53

JoeTurksta:
sbiddle:
Itr0nic: It was bound to happen . but it takes less than 5mins to have a work around

That's not the point however..

It's the problem I've always seen with global mode style products. When you sell and promote a product you have CGA obligations, and there will now be customers who will now believe those CGA obligations have been broken.

^^ This.... Exactly (sbiddle), I signed up to a 12 Month Contract and expected to have Fibre TV. Very keen to see where the CGA comes into this. I'm guessing at very best MyR will happily break the 12month contract. I have no desire of leaving MyR to be honest, I find them to be a great ISP and their technical support to date with issues such as Sky Go, and when my Fibre Connection crapped itself after it was installed was fantastic.

I'm just disappointed that MyR couldn't stand up and tell the letter senders to stick it, their customers PAY for the services and aren't stealing ANYTHING. What would they prefer? Torrenting? or legitimate purchasing and legitimate royalties paid by Netflix?

Funny you should say your guess is that they will allow you to break your 12mth contact, like you I thought it would be a no brainer considering they enticed customers in with the product they offered. However to my amazement this is not the case they seem to think that s*#ting on their customers is good business practice. I had not decided to change providers however due to this service no longer being offered I thought that they'd at least allow me to leave if I wished especially considering they allow people to withdraw from their contracts within 3mths. I contacted them to enquire and was told no you are outside of your 3mths therefore you are locked in, oh and the service we were offering was just a free add on. Free add on or not what they promoted was for free for 12mths in my opinion that means it may therefore be charged for after 12mths. Up until now I've been extremely happy with MYR due to their response I'm not impressed and will not be recommending them to anyone in the near future. Last but not least I was told you can google how to get around it and it may cost you up to $5, go figure you can go pay for a service you have originally contracted into for free....

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samnz

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#1312757 27-May-2015 14:14

Funny you should say your guess is that they will allow you to break your 12mth contact, like you I thought it would be a no brainer considering they enticed customers in with the product they offered. However to my amazement this is not the case they seem to think that s*#ting on their customers is good business practice. I had not decided to change providers however due to this service no longer being offered I thought that they'd at least allow me to leave if I wished especially considering they allow people to withdraw from their contracts within 3mths. I contacted them to enquire and was told no you are outside of your 3mths therefore you are locked in, oh and the service we were offering was just a free add on. Free add on or not what they promoted was for free for 12mths in my opinion that means it may therefore be charged for after 12mths. Up until now I've been extremely happy with MYR due to their response I'm not impressed and will not be recommending them to anyone in the near future. Last but not least I was told you can google how to get around it and it may cost you up to $5, go figure you can go pay for a service you have originally contracted into for free....

Their Voice service is also mentioned as 'Free(usually $10 pm)'. Can they also all of a sudden charge 10$ for the voice service when you are locked in the contract ?

FletchNZ

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#1312779 27-May-2015 14:33

Looking at my monthly bill it says I'm subscribed to Fibre TV, just like my Gamer Fibre plan and residential voice plan.
Unotelly will cost me $48USD a year ($36USD with Geekzone discount for first year)

Honestly as a customer, I lose a service I use all the time that was part of the deal when I signed up and have to pay an extra $55 to restore that service.

Donased

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#1313085 27-May-2015 20:43

Somethings not sitting right here. The case sky, tvnz etc is being taken against callplus and the creators of globalmode. This is a test case to see if there is a case to answer. Until such time as that case is completed why would MyRepublic be removing the service? Surely any complaints would be met with a "we are waiting on the outcome of the test case response". At this point slingshot don't appear to be changing anything which is making me wonder if there was a different reason for pulling the plug in Fibre TV.

Athlonite

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#1313526 28-May-2015 14:33

JoeTurksta: I just received this in my email:

Hey there,

We are letting you know that from 3am on Wednesday 27 May we are retiring Fibre TV which had been offered free as part of your service.

MyRepublic fibre broadband still provides the ultimate online streaming experience to great content from New Zealand and overseas, such as Netflix, PGA Tour Live, Premier League Pass and YouTube.

MyRepublic continues to drive the full potential of fibre broadband for all Kiwis across the nation and was recently ranked the fastest Internet connection in New Zealand by Ookla Speed Test: http://www.netindex.com/download/2,5/New-Zealand/

Cheers,

Team MyRepublic

What does this mean? Their version of "Global Mode" is no longer being offered as a service and Netflix will now be NZ Netflix only for example? Bit short notice if you ask me, especially when one of the reasons I joined MyR was for their Fibre TV offering with preferential routing to the USA.

Someone want to clear this up or explain further?

As they have given no actual Legal reason for the discontinuation of Fibre TV for those still withing their 12 months contract I doubt they have a legal leg to stand on if you want out of your contract even if it is after the "3 month grace period"

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