|
Bell TV dramatically lowers its reliability claims
Without any notice, Bell TV has dramatically lowered its claims concerning the reliability of its direct-to-home subscription satellite television service.
In the past, Bell advertised that its satellite service was 99.99% reliable but in their current ads the number has been reduced to 99.9%.
While on the surface, the numbers appear almost the same, the truth is Bell is telling consumers that the reliability of its service is ten times lower than it was a year ago!
In simple terms, a 99.99% reliability claim means Bell Satellite TV (BSTV) watchers can expect to be without service for just under one hour (53 minutes) per year. A 99.9% reliability percentage means they can expect service to be out of commission for about 530 minutes a year, or almost nine hours.
Digital Home readers who subscribe to Bell TV, scoff at even the lower 99.9% figure. BSTV subscribers complain and have documented that their satellite systems have been unavailable to them for well over ten hours in the last few months alone.
For example, this past June severe thunderstorms in Toronto resulted in BSTV subscribers across the country being left without service for several hours. Readers also complain about multiple and often lengthy outages in July and August.
The primary reason for Bell TV’s numerous problems this past summer was bad weather in Toronto. Because Bell TV’s only uplink center is located in Toronto, it means if Toronto gets a severe storm, then Bell’s uplink facility is unable to communicate with its satellites and the whole of Canada is left without television programming.
When asked how they can make claims of 99.9%, let alone 99.99% uptime, Bell representatives have told Digital Home, in the past, that the 99.99% reliability number refers to the fact that Bell Satellites in outer space are working most of the time and have nothing to do with actual conditions down on the planet earth. The current ad in mouse type says the 99.9% time is the “annual average uplink and downlink transmissions as measured at Bell TV’s Toronto facility.”
So for now, it’s not just Torontonians who grumble about the weather in Toronto!
|
