Now Ultra boost

[lufc87]

I know this has been asked many times before but there doesn’t seem to have been anything new posted in a few months. Is there any news on the Ultra boost being available?

I’ve noticed the option actually now shows if I login to Now but obviously it doesn’t let me purchase.

[zulu17]

@Midnight_Voice 

Are those takeup figures for NOW Boost in the public domain  and/or which date do they they refer to ?

BT TV (as it was then) did do an attractive offer I believe c October/November 2022 where they offered the Entertainment package for £6/month for the 24 month minimum period.  I would not be suprised if many cost conscious people who took that offer didn't opt to pay almost as much again for Boost. or HD addon Those minimum periods would have ended c Oct/Dec 2024.

[hooba]

@zulu17  The figures are those posted by one of the mods a little while ago. Reckoned only 30% of Sports subscribers opted for HD. I was gob smacked to see those figures. I assumed given the proliferation of people that buy 50 - 60 - 65”+ UHD TVs very few would then put up with SD broadcasts. But what do I know?

@Midnight_Voice We’re on different pages I think.  You quote me as saying that  the systems for moving people from BT to EE  (and indeed for taking on new EE customers) are far from ready. I can’t help reading that as some sort of excuse offered by you, leaning into what I have posted, as to why we find ourselves in the current situation.  But to be very clear about this - I find the fact that the systems aren’t ready to be wholly inexcusable. Particularly as we are now 7 months in. And even more so that shunting customers from BT to EE when those systems aren’t ready is of clear benefit to BT/EE and of clear detriment to customers. I think you already  know how I feel about this, so I’m pretty surprised you’ve chosen to point in my direction.

I dunno - you seem to be saying that all of this is entirely reasonable, given constraints. But those constraints are self imposed at expense of customer. And it’s quite frankly appalling. You seem to take a different view. You are of course entitled to hold and express that view. But try not to offfer up what is very clear criticism on my part as justification for EE’s actions. It disingenuous on your part to do so. 

[Midnight_Voice]

@hooba 

I had hoped what I said would have been taken as a description and an explanation rather than an excuse. And I certainly did not intend to twist your words. But throwing a new requirement into an ongoing process needs to be very carefully managed, or it is a recipe for disaster.

But as an overall summary, was “But yes, UltraBoost completely wrong-footed EETV at every level; but even if they were caught napping, it should never have taken this long” not strong enough for you? 😢

[zulu17]

@Midnight_Voice  Seems disappointing that if your assessment  that the significant delay is the EE order systems , that the service could not be launched on the EETV product on BT Broadband on the mature and functioning BT order systems. 

[hooba]

@Midnight_Voice  Your overall summary is one of the most problematic parts of your post. Saying that UltraBoost  'wrong-footed' EE suggests that the introduction of UltraBoost put EE in a difficult position. It's BT/EE that put themselves in a difficult position - by migrating customers from one platform to another without having a properly functioning order system in place. That order system still isn't there yet. 

EE is not the victim here.  And neither is BT - BT, despite having an ordering system that is 1) present; and 2) works - BT won't use that system to allow UltraBoost because that would deter customers from migrating to EE !!!

[Midnight_Voice]

@zulu17 

I don’t know where the significant delay is; I don’t know any more than you do on this topic.

If you look at how long it took to get the BBC-mandated changes to ‘recording’ implemented, which involved no changes to any billing systems, this might give you a clue to how long changes on that side take, as I understand that the Boxes Pro and Mini need changes to support UltraBoost quite separate from any Now considerations.

As to launching UltraBoost on BT first, even if it were the simplest technical solution, that would send so many wrong commercial messages that EETV would not countenance it. And I think, reading between the lines, that BT probably  isn’t slated to get UltraBoost, so if that’s a worry for you, start a groundswell now that may force a BT rethink.

[Midnight_Voice]

@hooba 

Sorry if I am not saying what you want to hear - you have my opinion, but that’s all it is, my opinion.

I would think, from my general knowledge of the commercial world, that Now would have given EETV an advance heads-up that UltraBoost was coming, as they would to all the owners of platforms on which Now runs, and maybe there would have been discussions about whether the platform owners wanted to make any changes necessary to have UltraBoost run on those platforms.

And a principal platform would have been Now on EETV, where the answer would be “Yes, changes will be needed, and yes we want to make them”. With a side helping of billing implications, which not all the other platforms would have had.

We can envisage, perhaps, discussions within EETV as to whether bowing out of UltraBoost might be a tenable option, given that the perhaps surprisingly low penetration of Boost means that it wouldn’t have been the commercial suicide we thought it might, but all credit to them, they decided to go ahead with it. 

A little slowly, we might think, but at least it’s coming, and my piggy bank is ready to embrace it.

[hooba]

@Midnight_Voice What are the changes that you understand that the Boxes Pro and Mini need to support UltraBoost?

[Midnight_Voice]

@zulu17 

Link about Boost penetration hunted down, especially for you:-

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/TV/What-is-wrong-with-the-EE-Entertainment-package-HD-programs/m-p/146...

[Midnight_Voice]

@hooba 

I have no idea about the gory details 😢

But pre-EETV I had UltraBoost, which worked with the Now app on several platforms, but not on YouView boxes, not even the T4000 which supports UHD, and with no billing details to get tangled up in, not with Now direct.

And I can’t think that Now wouldn’t have rolled out an UltraBoost-supporting version of their app for YouView boxes, if they could have.