Around 10,000 households had their TV signal cut off last night, as a result of the MMDS switch off. Here are the 5 options available to affected households.
Does the phrase “roll it there Roisin” mean anything to you?
For years, it was the iconic order issued at about 11pm every Friday by Gay Byrne to signal the end of The Late Late Show. It also meant that half-decent TV was over for the night and that it was time for bed.
For about 10,000 households across the country, it was “rolled” by “Roisin” once and for all last night.
That’s because the MMDS (multichannel multipoint distribution system) transmission system was shut off forever, leaving many people around the country without a TV signal this morning.
And to make matters doubly worse, many of the affected households are in Ireland’s rural blackspots, meaning that the likes of Netflix and the RTÉ Player aren’t available to them either.
So, here are the 5 options that you have if your MMDS was switched off last night.
1 – Get Sky TV
With Sky’s cheapest package, you’ll get 56 stations, including all of the free-to-air Irish channels, along with the BBCs and the likes of Sky 1 and Sky Atlantic (home to Game of Thrones!).
Once you’ve ordered Sky TV, they’ll send someone out to your house to install a satellite dish within about a week. Installation and set-up costs €30 and your monthly bill will be €29.50 for the duration of the 12-month contract that the plan requires.
Sky is currently offering €20 cashback to new customers so, all in all you’ll pay about €364 in year one.
You can sign up for Sky TV here.
2 – Get TV, broadband and phone from eir
If you live in an area that is serviced by an eFibre network, you could go all out and get a TV, broadband and phone package. These are called Tripleplay bundles and are usually where the best value lies, assuming you actually want broadband and a landline.
With eir, you can get 100 Mbps broadband, unlimited calls to Irish landlines and mobiles and 55 channels for €77 a month.
This amount is discounted to €25 a month for the first 6 months, and it’s an 18-month contract.
Installation is free so you’ll end up paying about €612 in year one.
You can get eir’s Tripleplay plan here.
3 – Get a Tripleplay plan with Vodafone
As mentioned, you must be in an eFibre area to get a Tripleplay package, and Vodafone is no exception.
For €80 a month, you’ll get 100 Mbps broadband, unlimited calls to Irish landlines and mobiles and 56 channels. You’ll also get the option of 6 months of free Netflix, Setanta Sports (this includes BT Sports, by the way) or multi-room viewing.
The price is discounted to €40 a month for the first 6 months, installation is free and the contract is 18 months long. So, in year one, you’ll pay about €720.
You can get Vodafone’s Tripleplay plan here.
4 – Get Saorview
With Saorview you’ll get all of the free-to-air channels in Ireland, such as the RTÉs, TV3, UTV Ireland and TG4.
You also have the option of getting free-to-air channels in the UK, including BBC and Channel 4.
It costs about €250 to get Saorview installed and usually takes about a week for a technician to call out and do so.
They’ll install a digital antenna, which allows you to access the Irish stations and a dish, which gets you the UK stations.
For an extra charge, you can get a Saorview Plus box, which allows you to record, pause and rewind live TV.
Once the upfront cost is paid, it’s completely free thereafter.
To get Saorview, give us a call on 1800 930 256 and we’ll help you get set up.
5 – Read a book
We hear that ‘Ulysses’ is a real page-turner…
