Ziggo customers have to wait several months to receive a Cisco-manufactured PVR as Holland’s largest cable operator finds itself overwhelmed by the success of its marketing campaign offering customers the device for €99 instead of the regular retail price of €459.
The operator will start delivering the PVRs in September, but because of the huge demand, it will take at least until the end of November before all orders can be fulfilled.
According to the operator, the success of the promotion shows the majority of its customers want digital television rather than analogue. The cabler is under fire from some left-wing politicians who complain that Ziggo is reducing the size of its analogue basic tier by five channels.
According to Ziggo, digital is now the norm and offers a basic digital tier (TV Standaard) of around 60 SD channels and 12 HD channels for €16.95. The price includes a basic analogue tier of 25 channels (instead of 30 channels until now).
Ziggo markets its services with a retail model where people have to buy their own cable tuner, PVR or CI+ equipped TV set. At the moment, more than two-thirds of Ziggo subscribers watch digital. On June 30, 1,971,000 homes took digital TV.
Marketing promotions are part of Ziggo’s campaign to digitise its network with the €99 price tag for Cisco PVRs and €49 for stand-alone set-top boxes.
