UPC more flexible with STBs

[LNBExpert]

Digital TV customers of UPC Netherlands will be able to choose their mediabox and will not be forced to take a Horizon STB.

According to the Dutch Consumentenbond and Coax.nl UPC has committe to this after joint consultation following the problems many viewers experience with the new Horizon box.

UPC will offer its customers the opportunity to choose a decoder other than Horizon.

“Customers who want to increase the speed of their broadband connection or who buy a subscription with PVR funcionality, can order that from Monday, April 22 without having to commit to the Horizon Mediabox,” said Bart Combee, director of the Consumtenbond, in a statement.

“This is a positive outcome of the talks between Coax.nl and the Consumentenbond with UPC. Unfortunately UPC refuses to meet our other requirements: clarity about providing appropriate compensation for the different problems customers are experiencing, depending on severity and duration of their problems and faster update to address these problems.”

UPC has already announced it will perform a major update of the Horizon firmware as well as supplying all current Horizon customers with a new remote control. However, this update will not happened until Juy=ly.

On its website, the Consumentenbond also made an overview of voers’ complaints. The list of unresolved issues includes: 75% complain about the speed of the menu, while 61% said the menu structure is too deep (too many clicks to get the result), 59% said the box freezes and need a ‘hard reset’.

Other reported problems include the lack of functions on the remote control; making a recording is too complicated; lack of information about the programmes broadcast; fault in the picture and audio synchronisation and connecting to the home network.

Customers also complain about problems with the On Demand and catch-up TV services.