GaryPen said:
I don't think it's SBC that's being inflexible. From what I understand, they have to follow very strict guidelines imposed by Dish. It is Dish that provides them with the hardware. It is Dish that says what programming they can sell.
I'm sure that Dish realized they were cutting off their nose to spite their face by denying SBC the 625, as Dish stands to make some money from their dopey rendition of OnDemand.
Now, if only they'll let SBC customers order Voom. But, I have a feeling they're holding that as their counter balance to SBC's seemingly superior HomeZone receiver. Of course, that's just stupid, as Dish makes money from EVERY customer SBC signs up. Actually, if it wasn't for SBC, Dish would have taken far longer to reach 10 million subs, I'll bet.
On several occasions I was told directly by management sources that just the opposite is true. It is my understanding from E*
and SBC separately that E* is not keeping anything from SBC subscribers, but that, in fact, it's
SBC who's limiting our choices! According to E* at the time of my inquiries, SBC's contract with them specifically states that only certain hardware/programming choices be made available to us SBC combined bill accounts. They do that, I'm told, to limit their financial (accounts receivable) liability since they are paying Dish in advance each month for services on our behalf. Assinine, I know...but that is what I've been told by reps on various management levels of both companies.
I happen to be an SBC/Dish customer who does, in fact, have the Dish HD Pak along with the 811 HD receiver. They took pity on me and, after several upper-level approvals, made an exception because of all the extreme difficulties I was having with their 522 DVR (and indeed their service in general) during the first 5 months of service with them. I had threatened to cancel my service and return to DirecTV (my previous provider), and they upgraded me to HD as appeasement (for which I am appreciative, admittedly).
Now, in relation to Voom, after inquiring about adding those channels to my present line-up, I was told that SBC was adamant about not allowing me to have those channels because it would require a new dish installation for my set-up (including labor) and that they (SBC) were unwilling to foot the bill in advance for it--which poses the question: "Well, can't I just pay for installation up-front when the technician arrives," I ask. No dice, says E*.
I
could just buy the new dish on my own, do the install myself and then probably make a convincing argument for adding Voom since I already have the HD Pak (even though, yes, it was an ass-kiss gesture on their part to retain my business). But I figure the restrictions presently in place for SBC/Dish customers are going to be moot anyway since the SBC/Yahoo!/Dish joint venture "MediaPortal" is an MPEG-4 DVR specifically designed for HD. Clearly, either a new contract is in the works for combined bill accounts or they are at least working on it. I can't imagine them touting MediaPortal otherwise. So I'll bide my time til then. Hang in there, folks...Our time is coming, hopefully sooner rather than later.
http://www.2wire.com/?p=11 for those interested in more info regarding MediaPortal.
