The good news is that about 90,000 subscribers to BSkyB satellite services in the United Kingdom have HD-capable set-top boxes. The bad news is that all of them will have to be replaced, thanks to a glitch discovered by the box maker, Pace.
Still, it could have been worse. In all, there are about 900,000 HD subs signed on with Sky, and most of them will not need to replace anything.
The 90,000 affected customers of Sky+ HD are being asked to replace their STBs because of what Pace said was some problem with the internal cabling and the quality of the connections between components. But the firm emphasized that the glitch does not pose any safety risk, nor does it involve the boxes’ hard drives or software, according to BBC News.
And those inconvenienced HD subs will, in effect, make some money on the deal. Sky+ HD subs will be given three months’ free access to Sky’s HD package (totaling about $43 in savings) once they’ve replaced their old boxes.
The first batch of Pace HD boxes in question—which can continue to be used safely until they are replaced by Sky technicians—include these model numbers:
- • 9F3001
- • 9F3002
- • 9F3003
- • 9F3004
Read all of HD Notebookhere.
