Just for a bit of background, when Globe Wharf was first developed, Cable and Wireless analogue cable TV and telephone connections were provided to each flat, in addition to BT telephone cabling. The basic TV service was free for a guaranteed ten years, residents could choose to upgrade the TV service with an (analogue) set-top box and take telephone services from BT or C&W. C&W morphed into NTL and eventually became Virgin. Virgin Digital services have only been available for the last twelve years or so, and until Hyperoptic arrived the only other choice have been services via BT, such as ADSL which is notoriously slow in this area. I was fortunate in that my work provided me with a commercial ISDN connection over the BT lines until Virgin Digital was available.
The deal with C&W meant the original developer did not need to provide a communal antenna or dish. I recall that, when it has been looked at subsequently, the high cost of cabling from a shared antenna to the flats has been the main issue – listed building issues were not the problem. Doubtless someone on here will recall the exact figures!
I’m currently using Hyperoptic with an Amazon Fire TV stick, and find that I can get all the ‘normal’ TV I’m interested in. It’s slightly fiddly switching between iPlayer, ITV hub and TV player (for C4 & C5 etc.) but fine for viewing quality.
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