This is how you must do it DSTV

There is no logic in SA when it comes to products. Look at Hyundai and the I10, when it launched in the country about 3 years ago it was R65 000, my mom bought one in 2008 and it was 85 000, now it is R99 000? Why has it gone up 34 000 in 3 years?
Everyone in SA is out to screw us, I actually don't think there is honestly any vendor out there that actually thinks logically.
 
We get Sky TV reception in SA, so why the fck can't they set up a local office here?

They've got a HD package for 49 pounds (~600 rands) that includes broadband & phone calls. Throw out those two and you have a package that will pwn DSTV any day. Loads of people will pay 600+ for a sky package.

I don't get why there is no competition in this area.
 
We get Sky TV reception in SA, so why the fck can't they set up a local office here?

They've got a HD package for 49 pounds (~600 rands) that includes broadband & phone calls. Throw out those two and you have a package that will pwn DSTV any day. Loads of people will pay 600+ for a sky package.

I don't get why there is no competition in this area.

Don't you mean 23 Pounds?

yeah, they can keep the free telephone & 2MB free internet, even without that it will be a bargain! 360 channels!
 
We get Sky TV reception in SA, so why the fck can't they set up a local office here?

So, the theory here is that I could subscribe via a relative or friend in the UK, lug the equipment here, and be done? (legalities aside)

Surely people would be doing it then?
 
Surely people would be doing it then?
Some are. Specifically one of the powers that be here on the forums is afaik.:whistle:

EDIT: Do make sure yourself first before you try this. I remember that its a Brit package might not be sky though.
 
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There is no logic in SA when it comes to products. Look at Hyundai and the I10, when it launched in the country about 3 years ago it was R65 000, my mom bought one in 2008 and it was 85 000, now it is R99 000? Why has it gone up 34 000 in 3 years?
Everyone in SA is out to screw us, I actually don't think there is honestly any vendor out there that actually thinks logically.

Yea ! finally a post that hits the nail on the head. Ofcourse in SA the dealers/sellers of goods and services have had an easy ride and a fairly captive market for many many years. I also cant understand why cars are so expensive here, why is internet access so expensive and comes with so many conditions, etc. however the fact is while you live here and want to use some of the services and goods then you will most likely end up paying a premium for them just because either there is no competition in some areas or there is collusion between companies; either way the end result is that consumer (you and me) comes out worse off.

While ranting and raving is fun sometimes but IMHO I dont think the companies really care yeah ? to come back to DSTV if you dont like their prices dont get it, get your content from somewhere else, but ranting and raving and taking out your anger at other forum member is pointless. We are all in the same situation. Speaking for myself I dont like the prices DSTV charge however I do want to watch some of the content they show and no for me going to various web sites and downloading illegal content is not an option, so I accept it and move on hoping one day there will truely be more competition not just to DSTV but in all the other areas and we will all see the benefits :)
 
Was talking about the HD package here http://packages.sky.com/ @49pounds

I picked that one because it represents something that is indisputably better than dstv.

lol, as if 360 channels at 28 pounds wasn't pwning dstv enough (and that's not even talking about free internet & phonecalls)

this story of getting a Sky Decoder, and paying for your smart card's access through someone else staying in the UK sounds rather quite interesting! :whistle:
 
@benitok : a service of trade...uhm yeah ?? lol, i'm not a finance person either :) my understanding of a commodity is any item that has no differentiation in a market other than pricing...like metals are commodities and their sales are based almost exclusively on pricing...(and maybe some service delivery aspects)...my comment's logic (or lack) was basically stating that if you have a product that is too spread, you never really satisfy anyone, it's like anything else...why is there not a great perception of SABC's content, i believe because it's spread too thin, they cater for a broad market and it's impossible to satisfy the viewing needs of any specific market and thus labelled as a 'commodity'...something just there...sorry, i won't be able to make it clearer, it's more conceptual in my head than something i'm comfortable communicating in written form.And i still believe it could be true of any service (basically becoming a commodity...and this was also reference to someone talking about generic decoders but don't remember how it all relates now...lol)

@arf / Keeper
: correct and additionally, it is supporting 20 million more people that would raise the costs...MCA was traditionally (and still is, could be corrected) a subscriber management company, manages all the area's that relate to customers....service counters, call centres, forums, feedback, account management, etc...this is hugely impacted (cost, service delivery, etc) by the # of subscribers.

@Madman : Yeah, you right...was with you 100% (still am) with regards to the recording and playback functionality, i believe this is a contractual issue wtih studio's...the content is never owned by anyone, the rights still belong to the studio's even when recorded...so yes, you own the hardware, but the content and even access to it is not owned by you...so it's something we can argue about for years and i'll probably agree with you more often than not, but this is how it is, i'm not sure i can say anything more other than the content is encrypted and unfortunately it's a proprietary encryption so no, cannot access it any way other than writing it to an external medium (dvd recorder, dvd recorder hdd or vhs tape).

@Lupus : Wanred that i'm not a financial person, but that is about 20% increase a year....inflation would account for a large portion of it, manufacturing costs, exchange rates, import policies and the general economic climate over the last 2/3 years, improvements in the actual car or components, improved safety or manufacturing processes ? I drive a 2nd hand car at the moment because of new car prices and they are high, but that increases describe by you doesn't shock me...


General : Obviously they will either need a broadcast licence or contract with ICASA and then the satellite footprint needs to cover SA (if it does, that's news to me cos they seem to be very localised in their feeds) and lastly, does it make business sense in terms of our market size, the content they provide and the logistics of working in SA ?

@Sfarooq : Agree with all your sentiments and i hope people 'hear' you...I think there is a place to complain and take companies to task, but it needs to be constructive and maybe more collabarative than the mudslinging and generalising that we find SA consumers resorting to which doesn't help, might be their frustrations of trying this approach, but the 'trash-talking' approach doesn't help either really...
 
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There is no logic in SA when it comes to products. Look at Hyundai and the I10, when it launched in the country about 3 years ago it was R65 000, my mom bought one in 2008 and it was 85 000, now it is R99 000? Why has it gone up 34 000 in 3 years?
Everyone in SA is out to screw us, I actually don't think there is honestly any vendor out there that actually thinks logically.

Came out about 18 months back. Think it was R85 000 for the 1.1 manual. My girlfriend bought the auto. It did not come out 3 years ago and it was never R65 000.
 
DSTV could launch a better service than malaysia tomorrow with cheaper prices and i still wouldn't sign up, they've dug their hole too deep, once you start torrenting tv shows there's no going back.
 
@Madman : Yeah, you right...was with you 100% (still am) with regards to the recording and playback functionality, i believe this is a contractual issue wtih studio's...the content is never owned by anyone, the rights still belong to the studio's even when recorded...so yes, you own the hardware, but the content and even access to it is not owned by you...so it's something we can argue about for years and i'll probably agree with you more often than not, but this is how it is, i'm not sure i can say anything more other than the content is encrypted and unfortunately it's a proprietary encryption so no, cannot access it any way other than writing it to an external medium (dvd recorder, dvd recorder hdd or vhs tape).

A contract with the studio? no, I can't believe that. How many other set top boxes around the world include encryption? Not one that I could find. In fact the most basic version of the Tivo allows for backups and hdd expansions.
Otherwise the contracts must be in place because South Africa is the pirate tv distribution hotspot of the world.... because we get it all first and our bandwidth is so cheap that it allows us to upload the stuff to the rest of the world basically for free? :rolleyes:

Besides, what if I wanted to record a crap load of the GOD channel without a subscription?

What about the EPG? There was a court case about someone providing that for free in xml format? Is there a contract about that also? Or has it got more to do with MC not wanting pc based media centre's offering the same functionality as their pvr?

No. I think that's just another spadeful of crap we're expected to eat for the sake of MC stroking their ego at the cost of the consumer.
 
A contract with the studio? no, I can't believe that. How many other set top boxes around the world include encryption? Not one that I could find. In fact the most basic version of the Tivo allows for backups and hdd expansions.
.

You didn't try very hard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGMS-A
CGMS-A has been in existence since 1995, and has been standardized by various organizations including the IEC and EIA/CEA. It is used in devices such as PVRs/DVRs, DVD players and recorders, D-VHS, and Blu-ray recorders, as well certain television broadcasts. More recent TiVo firmwares comply with CGMS-A signals.
 
@Nduisimo : Yep, and once u start hi-jacking cars you'll never go back to saving deposit for one, then paying back over years....but hey, the car dealers have dug a hole for themselves...selling at such a high price...in short, i get your point....*NAWT*

@Madman : Yep, all STB's in the world should include some sort of CA(encryption) and some sort of copyright protection. Not just CGMS-A (which is all analogue outputs), but also CGMS-D and Macrovision...with HDMI, we lucky it's built in and pretty standard in terms of the HDCP protection...
 
@Nduisimo : Yep, and once u start hi-jacking cars you'll never go back to saving deposit for one, then paying back over years....but hey, the car dealers have dug a hole for themselves...selling at such a high price...in short, i get your point....*NAWT*
:rolleyes: because stealing a car and downloading a tv show are exactly the same, thank God I stopped listening to those idiots at the content companies long ago, and since I started watching downloaded movies, I haven't had to sit through any of those anti piracy videos at all, if they want to treat me like a criminal, I'll act like one (mission accomplished you douches).
And if I could walk into a car dealership and make an exact of a car, I would.
 
:rolleyes: because stealing a car and downloading a tv show are exactly the same, thank God I stopped listening to those idiots at the content companies long ago, and since I started watching downloaded movies, I haven't had to sit through any of those anti piracy videos at all, if they want to treat me like a criminal, I'll act like one (mission accomplished you douches).
And if I could walk into a car dealership and make an exact of a car, I would.

Here you go:

http://3.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kpcvvy3eqK1qz4a62o1_500.jpg
 
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