BT Vision is a digital TV service combining Freeview TV and radio channels, a set-top box with recording and live TV pause functions and on demand TV from your BT broadband connection. You need to be a BT broadband customer to get BT digital TV, but if you are or you're thinking of switching then it's a very good option. Here's how it works -
The Freeview channels come from your aerial into the BT Vision V-Box...
The box plugs into your BT Broadband Home Hub router (BT broadband is required)...
You can pause, rewind and record live TV and choose from BT's on demand library of TV, sport and movies!
If BT broadband is right for you (you're already with BT or they have a package to suit you) then you're getting the V-Box recorder for just a £30 one-off connection fee, much cheaper than buying a DVD or hard disc recorder, plus you get the 'pause live TV' function. You also get access to some excellent Pay Per View deals without having to take out a minimum TV contract. These include -
A huge choice of movies to watch on demand from as little as £1.99...
Barclays Premier League matches from 99p per view, and unlimited Setanta Sports access from only £9.99 a month...
A choice of packages with all the TV, films and sport to suit you from £6 a month.
Choose one of 3 options for broadband speeds of up to 8MB, from only £7.95 a month for the first 3 months (then £15.99).
Get the BT Vision V-Box and you can record, pause and rewind live TV and choose from hours of great on demand TV programmes.
BT Vision is easy to install, the lead from your rooftop aerial is plugged into the V-Box to receive Freeview channels, then the V-Box is connected to the Home Hub router supplied with your broadband package. BT offer an installation by engineer for an extra £60 for those who really don't want to do it themselves, but for most people it will present no problems at all.
The V-Box, which is made for BT by Philips, can record up to 80 hours of TV on the 160GB hard drive, and has twin tuners so you can record one programme while watching another. It is also HD ready with an HDMI output for connection to an HD TV set, as well as two scarts and stereo audio out to connect to your hi-fi. Here's a cool feature of BT Vision - the set-top box can either be plugged straight into your Home Hub router via ethernet or you can use the pair of Comtrend UPA adaptor plugs that come with it to turn the mains wiring in your house into a network. UPA stands for Universal Powerline Association, and the system works by connecting the router into the mains using one of the adaptors then using the other adaptor to connect to the BT Vision box elsewhere in the house - a really clever way of avoiding extra cables. You can buy extra Comtrend adaptors to extend the broadband network to computers around the house but only one BT Vision box can be run from a single router.
For the Freeview channels there's a 14 day Electronic Programme Guide (or EPG), which as well as showing you what's on is an easy way to select a programme for recording.
Movies - BT Vision has signed deals with a range of top studios to provide pay-per-view films from classic movies to the latest blockbusters. Studios on board include;
Sport - Sport on BT Vision is largely based around Premier League football matches. In a joint deal with BSkyB, BT has the rights to 242 same-day, but not live, Premier League matches per season - this started with the 2007-8 season and lasts through the 2008-9 and 2009-10 seasons. In addition to this BT offer on-demnd coverage of 125 matches per season from the Football League and the Carling Cup - similarly these are not live but can be viewed from midnight the day after the match. Setanta Sports can also be added as an extra to BT Vision by use of a smart card, giving access to Barclays Premiership and Clydesdale Bank Premier League matches as well as golf and rugby.
Music - BT Vision's music offering spans a range of styles from rock and pop to r'n'b to opera and jazz. They have deals in place with Universal, Sony BMG and EMI Music, as well as Planet Rock and Music Mall.
Kids - Children's TV is well represented on BT Vision with access to the following channels;
British Telecom was privatised in 1884, around the time that cable TV was starting to develop in the UK (although broadband TV was still a long way off), but because BT already had a huge network of customers - virtually every household in Britain thanks to the monopoly they had on phone lines - they weren't allowed to provide a TV service as it was unfair on the competition. The ban was lifted in January 2001 but it wasn't until December 2006 that BT Vision was launched, with a national advertising campaign kicking in in May 2007. BT's aim was to recruit in the hundreds of thousands in 2007 and then to have 2-3 million users within 3 to 4 years, so how are they doing? Well, The Guardian reported in February 2008 that BT's figures for 2007 were just over 150,000, so a bit less than their target and around half of those customers were recruited in the run-up to Christmas with a free BT Vision box deal with BT broadband. IPTV Watch reported in May 2008 that BT had gained 94,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year, so it's getting more popular even if it's taking longer than they hoped.