Rumor: Bell to swap existing STB

[Pinza]

Originally Posted by Dr.Dave

directs BCE’s DTH service to carry at least 43 additional television services that meet the following criteria in standard definition by 31 August 2012

It reads from Dr Daves quote that the 43 channels are going to be in SD not HD, so it should be possible to squeeze those on maybe 4 transponders.?

These would be freed by using MPEG4 on the other 24 transponders on 82.

[despe666]

Originally Posted by ScaryBob

Bell is only upgrading HD receivers. Let's say Bell has 600,000 HD receivers in the field and that 25% need upgrading. (Don't know if that's correct but it's probably within +-50% of actual numbers.) That's $60,000,000 / 150,000 = $400 per receiver. That sounds fairly generous to me.

More or less. They need to pay the staff to handle the switch (CSR, warehouse guys, installers, etc). They need to restart production of the 9242 (presumably they won't have enough refurbs on hand to meet the demand). Plus they need to properly dispose of the old receivers. 400$ per receiver sounds about right to me.

[Pinza]

I could be wrong but I think I read that the US version of the 9200 is still being sold as a Dual Tuner SD Receiver, maybe we will see them re-introduced here as that (same as the old 5200) when they get them back and refurbish them.

[peano]

The 512 is their "new" single TV dual tuner SD PVR. It is a 625 with the TV2 removed. I am pretty sure it is MPEG4 so I think you are right.

Edit: The 512 is not MPEG4 but is 8psk.

Bell will just standardize on the 9241 and 6131 I guess. 9200 customers should get refurb 9242s.

[Pinza]

Thanks peano, I knew you would have the facts....

[ScaryBob]

The 9200 will still be usable as a very good dual tuner SD PVR. It appears that Dish still sells the 9242 as the VIP622 so sourcing receivers should not be an issue. Note that Dish sells 4 models of HD DVRs. The 9241 is the same as their bottom of the line model and the 9242 equivalent is second from the bottom.

[Blackloz]

Agreed. For Duel tuner PVR's we should be seeing nothing but 9242's(with the true 722k 500gig internal HDD) or the 9252(with the 1tb internal HDD) if it ever hits the market. I also dusted off the old 6100 and low & behold it no longer powers on so Dish care is sending a supposed 6131 replacement so we shall see.

[jdevlin]

The 9200 is actually a triple tuner PVR. It has an OTA tuner as well. The OTA tuner is the main reason I bought mine.

[TKG26]

will bell swap at a customers request one hd pvr for the newer model? Like without having to bs them and threaten to leave if you dont get one?

[ScaryBob]

will bell swap at a customers request one hd pvr for the newer model?

Typically no. I believe rental customers can do so for a $75 fee. Units are owned by the customer are like anything else. If it becomes defective, Bell will replace it for a $150 fee but that's it. Threatening to leave my result in a retention offer on a new purchase or rental but I've not heard of Bell doing trade-ins or receiver swaps.

[scrooloose]

Let's not forget this is still a rumor thread and Bell hasn't officially acknowledged any of it, let alone what specific receivers would be swapped with what.

-Mike

[Dr.Dave]

@scrooloose, actually, it's not a rumour at all - see post 8. Bell is required to replace the 6100s and 9200s before August 31, 2012.

[scrooloose]

Well, it's April 13th, 2011 so it's firmly in rumor territory until Bell makes some sort of official announcement. We've been hearing this for so many years now.

-Mike

[ScaryBob]

When Bell replaced the 6000 receivers, they started mailing out letters to customers and the actual swap lasted about 6 months. There are likely many more receivers (6100s and 9200s) to replace this time so it may take longer. Bell did not send out tech's for the 6000 swap, they simply drop shipped the replacements and asked for the old receivers to be returned. If the old receiver was not returned, customers were billed at full cost for the replacement.

[Angelfish]

I still have my 6100 hooked up in the basement. I no longer use it. Just tried it last night and it doesn't turn on. Hopefully Bell will carry out an "upgrade" program, and I won't have to pay to get this fixed.