Chorus Communications
Encyclopedia
Chorus Communications was a communication
s provider in Ireland
, it offered internet
, television
and telephone
services. It was owned by Liberty Global Europe
, and ultimately controlled by John C. Malone
's Liberty Media
. It was based in Limerick
, and owns the cable television
and MMDS TV licences for most towns in the Republic of Ireland
, outside of Dublin, Galway
, and Waterford
. In 2005 NTL
sold its Irish operation to the owners of Chorus Communication and hence Chorus Communications and NTL Ireland
became Chorus NTL
(later UPC Ireland).
(later Liberty Media), had been the product of a series of mergers between several regional companies - most notably East Coast Multichannel, Horizon Multichannel, Cork Communications, and Westward Cable. Irish Multichannel held the MMDS licences for most of the Republic of Ireland
other than Dublin, Galway
, and Waterford
which were held by Cablelink
which was to later become NTL Ireland, it also had a fairly extensive cable network in Cork and Limerick. Cable Management Ireland meanwhile was owned by several Irish businessmen. With CMI's network being pure CATV, having been assembled from a number of private providers, it was expected that the new Chorus would have to perform some extreme network consilidation.
Suir-Nore Relays was purchased shortly after the merger. In late 2004, Independent News and Media sold its shares in the company to Liberty Media International. Liberty Media transferred its shareholding in the company to its affiliate, UGC Europe (now called Liberty Global Europe), shortly afterwards. On 12 December 2005 Liberty Global Europe completed its acquisition of the other large Irish cable company, NTL Ireland
. The two companies have been integrated into one business current known as Chorus NTL but will soon be knowwn as UPC Ireland
.
Since the formation of the unified company, over €
130M has been spent on network infrastructure, including providing fibre and microwave links between regions. This has meant customers who were using CATV in the Community Antenna sense now generally have significantly higher quality signal, although poor transmission networks and high compression on microwave links cause MPEG-esque motion problems, even on analogue links.
, Chorus provide a bewildering array of services, including analogue MMDS, digital MMDS, analogue and digital cable TV, broadband
and dialup internet, and both landline and wireless (not mobile) telephone lines. Some areas which had MMDS from Irish Multichannel also had cable from CMI, and hence have a choice of services, often with one being analogue and the other digital. Official figures from December 2004 show that the company had a reach of 319,000 homes, of which 211,000 have cable or MMDS, 600 have broadband and 500 have telephone services. The future looks bleak for their MMDS operations after BBC and ITV services went free to air on satellite. These channels were often seen as the main reason for keeping its analogue service, and were a major factor in Chorus' marketing.
The Chorus Digital package was launched on 2 October 2000. It offers a standard line-up in all areas, although it is geared towards the MMDS rather than cable platform, and thus offers a rather smaller line-up than the larger capacity of cable would normally allow. Alongside the traditional terrestrial channels, channels from the BBC
, ITV
, Channel 4
, BSkyB
, Flextech, and others are carried. The Irish national channels are offered via MMDS on digital for the first time - on analogue MMDS, only TV3
is required to be carried, because analogue MMDS in Ireland offers a maximum of 12 channels. Unlike NTL, Chorus has not yet discontinued its analogue MMDS service.
From 2000-2007, Chorus offered the Chorus Sports Channel, which mainly specialises in Gaelic Athletic Association
coverage; although this channel was put on many analogue links at the expense of Deutsche Welle
. The channel was closed in January 2007.
With the exception of Cork, the company (like NTL Ireland) carries the basic channel pack on all analogue cable links unencrypted, to save on decoder equipment. Premium channels - some of Sky Sports and Sky Movies are always available, with more movies and the Fantasy Channel in some areas - use a simple image rotation system that is similar to 1980s satellite TV systems.
In May 2005, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland announced that it was issuing Chorus with a ten year broadcasting contract for a cable and MMDS television channel, to replace Chorus Sports, to carry documentaries
, arts
programming, and a large quantity of sport, although with the remit being expanded to cover motor sports. Had this channel launched when initially licenced, it would have been the first Irish general-purpose channel specifically for closed-access systems, although City Channel
has beaten it to this. The licensing documents refer to it as Chorus TV throughout. The forthcoming rebranding as UPC Ireland and the closure of the existing Chorus Sports Channel make it unlikely the channel will be launched in the form, or at least under the name intended.
Limerick's cable TV system descends from Westward Cable (later Irish Multichannel) and installation of the network began in the early 1980s. This covers most of the city as far as Castletroy
on the south side and Caherdavin
on the north side. Unfortunately it never reached some areas of the city (such as around Clare Street), and most housing developments built since then have not been linked to the network. As of 2006 only analogue CATV is available on the system, with 18 unencrypted channels (including Channel 6
and Chorus TV) and some encrypted channels (such as Sky Sports 1
and Sky Movies 1
) - customers are supplied with cumbersome old Jerrold/General Instrument
decoders to avail of these extra channels. Signal quality varies greatly in areas, and is often quite poor due to the age of the cables and related equipment. MPEG compression artefacts are also noticeably high on some channels which are sourced from digital MMDS signals. Interruption of service is also quite frequent. Channels previously on VHF Band I
frequencies were recently moved to Band III
positions - this is to make way for the introduction of the cable broadband service.
Digital cable television and broadband services have slowly been introduced across the city since late 2006.
bought the Irish assets of NTL
, on behalf of Chorus' owners UGC Europe (now Liberty Global Europe
), with the intention of selling them on to Liberty once a Competition Authority investigation had been completed.
NTL Ireland included a certain amount of fibre backbone, and a cable network (digital is available throughout most of the network, but the vast majority of customers still take just analogue) that covers the areas of Dublin, Galway, and Waterford for which Chorus are not licenced. NTL also offer broadband to a higher number of subscribers, and did offer a telephone service, which was removed after it was revealed that the handsets they used could catch fire
. NTL also own the remaining MMDS licences (for cells covering counties Dublin
, Galway
, Mayo
, and Waterford
).
On 12 December 2005, Liberty Global Europe completed its acquisition of NTL Ireland, which became part of the UPC Broadband group within Liberty.
It is assumed that Liberty will merge NTL and Chorus, under their UPC (for television) and Chello
(for internet) brands, and continue to consolidate their network. The company formed to acquire the network from Morgan Stanley is "UPC Ireland N.V.", fuelling speculation this will be the eventual name. A combined company would own all the MMDS licences and almost all the cable licences in the Republic of Ireland (the local networks in Dungarvan
, County Waterford
and Longford
town being the only major exception). They have announced that $200 million is to be spent replacing all coaxial trunk with fibre and upgrading all cable into homes with cable capable of carrying signals up to 850 MHz. This is claimed to be able to carry multi-channel cable and 30 Mbit/s internet concurrently.
From December 2006, Chorus began running NTL Ireland
's customer service from Limerick, in line with UPC's merger of the two companies. On 22 March 2007, Chorus changed its digital cable line up to a subset of NTL Ireland's line up, using the same EPG numbering system as NTL. The MMDS lineup is still unchanged.
It is expected that Chorus will be renamed as UPC Ireland
in the coming months, along with its sister company NTL Ireland. In preparation for this, from July 2007 advertising for both companies began using a composite logo reading "Chorus NTL - A UPC Company".
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s provider in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, it offered internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
services. It was owned by Liberty Global Europe
Liberty Global Europe
Liberty Global, Inc. is an international media company and one of the largest broadband providers outside the United States of America. It was formed by the merger of the international arm of Liberty Media and UGC .-Europe:...
, and ultimately controlled by John C. Malone
John C. Malone
John C. Malone is an American businessman and philanthropist. He served as chief executive officer of cable and media giant, Tele-Communications Inc. , for twenty-four years from 1973–1996. Malone is now chairman of Liberty Media and CEO of Discovery Holding Company. He was the interim CEO...
's Liberty Media
Liberty Media
Liberty Media Corporation is an American media conglomerate and the control is exercised by company Chairman John C. Malone, who owns a majority of the voting shares....
. It was based in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, and owns the cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and MMDS TV licences for most towns in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, outside of Dublin, Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, and Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
. In 2005 NTL
NTL Ireland
NTL Communications Limited was a cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service company in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2005 it was owned by Liberty Global Europe , having been divested by NTL...
sold its Irish operation to the owners of Chorus Communication and hence Chorus Communications and NTL Ireland
NTL Ireland
NTL Communications Limited was a cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service company in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2005 it was owned by Liberty Global Europe , having been divested by NTL...
became Chorus NTL
UPC Ireland
UPC Ireland is Liberty Global Europe's telecommunications operation in Ireland. UPC Ireland is the largest digital cable television provider within the Republic of Ireland. As of September 2010 the company offers broadband internet, digital television and digital telephony to over 531,000 customers...
(later UPC Ireland).
History
The company was formed in 2000, following the buy out of the CMI Cable operator by Irish Multichannel (Princes Holdings Limited). Irish Multichannel, which was a joint venture between Independent News and Media and TCITCI
-Medicine:*Transient Cerebral Ischaemic attack, see Transient ischemic attack*Tricyclic antidepressant medication*Target Controlled Infusion, a method for controlling intravenous infusions.-Psychology:*Theme-Centered Interaction, a method of psychotherapy by Dr...
(later Liberty Media), had been the product of a series of mergers between several regional companies - most notably East Coast Multichannel, Horizon Multichannel, Cork Communications, and Westward Cable. Irish Multichannel held the MMDS licences for most of the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
other than Dublin, Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, and Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
which were held by Cablelink
Cablelink
Cablelink is a subscription-based cable antenna television system operator and broadband Internet service provider in the Philippines, commenced its CATV operation in 1995. It is owned and operated by Cable Link and Holdings Corporation...
which was to later become NTL Ireland, it also had a fairly extensive cable network in Cork and Limerick. Cable Management Ireland meanwhile was owned by several Irish businessmen. With CMI's network being pure CATV, having been assembled from a number of private providers, it was expected that the new Chorus would have to perform some extreme network consilidation.
Suir-Nore Relays was purchased shortly after the merger. In late 2004, Independent News and Media sold its shares in the company to Liberty Media International. Liberty Media transferred its shareholding in the company to its affiliate, UGC Europe (now called Liberty Global Europe), shortly afterwards. On 12 December 2005 Liberty Global Europe completed its acquisition of the other large Irish cable company, NTL Ireland
NTL Ireland
NTL Communications Limited was a cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service company in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2005 it was owned by Liberty Global Europe , having been divested by NTL...
. The two companies have been integrated into one business current known as Chorus NTL but will soon be knowwn as UPC Ireland
UPC Ireland
UPC Ireland is Liberty Global Europe's telecommunications operation in Ireland. UPC Ireland is the largest digital cable television provider within the Republic of Ireland. As of September 2010 the company offers broadband internet, digital television and digital telephony to over 531,000 customers...
.
Services
The fractured nature of the network has led to consumers in different areas getting different channel packages, and has led to extreme problems for the customer services team, who often have no idea what channel package a customer has, at least beyond some core channels. Chorus' customer service has often been the subject of much criticism. In November 2004 it was reported that the company came last in a global customer service survey of 64 telecom companies, receiving a score of just 2.6 out of 10 for response times to customer queries from the Customer Respect Index (CRI). Chorus lost significant market share to Sky who launched a more reliable digital satellite service in Ireland in the early 2000s.Since the formation of the unified company, over €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
130M has been spent on network infrastructure, including providing fibre and microwave links between regions. This has meant customers who were using CATV in the Community Antenna sense now generally have significantly higher quality signal, although poor transmission networks and high compression on microwave links cause MPEG-esque motion problems, even on analogue links.
, Chorus provide a bewildering array of services, including analogue MMDS, digital MMDS, analogue and digital cable TV, broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
and dialup internet, and both landline and wireless (not mobile) telephone lines. Some areas which had MMDS from Irish Multichannel also had cable from CMI, and hence have a choice of services, often with one being analogue and the other digital. Official figures from December 2004 show that the company had a reach of 319,000 homes, of which 211,000 have cable or MMDS, 600 have broadband and 500 have telephone services. The future looks bleak for their MMDS operations after BBC and ITV services went free to air on satellite. These channels were often seen as the main reason for keeping its analogue service, and were a major factor in Chorus' marketing.
The Chorus Digital package was launched on 2 October 2000. It offers a standard line-up in all areas, although it is geared towards the MMDS rather than cable platform, and thus offers a rather smaller line-up than the larger capacity of cable would normally allow. Alongside the traditional terrestrial channels, channels from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
, Flextech, and others are carried. The Irish national channels are offered via MMDS on digital for the first time - on analogue MMDS, only TV3
TV3 Ireland
TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:...
is required to be carried, because analogue MMDS in Ireland offers a maximum of 12 channels. Unlike NTL, Chorus has not yet discontinued its analogue MMDS service.
From 2000-2007, Chorus offered the Chorus Sports Channel, which mainly specialises in Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
coverage; although this channel was put on many analogue links at the expense of Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
. The channel was closed in January 2007.
With the exception of Cork, the company (like NTL Ireland) carries the basic channel pack on all analogue cable links unencrypted, to save on decoder equipment. Premium channels - some of Sky Sports and Sky Movies are always available, with more movies and the Fantasy Channel in some areas - use a simple image rotation system that is similar to 1980s satellite TV systems.
In May 2005, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland announced that it was issuing Chorus with a ten year broadcasting contract for a cable and MMDS television channel, to replace Chorus Sports, to carry documentaries
Television documentary
Documentary television is a genre of television programming that broadcasts documentaries.* Documentary television series, a television series which is made up of documentary episodes....
, arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
programming, and a large quantity of sport, although with the remit being expanded to cover motor sports. Had this channel launched when initially licenced, it would have been the first Irish general-purpose channel specifically for closed-access systems, although City Channel
City Channel (Dublin)
City Channel Dublin is a cable television channel operating in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. They are licenced by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland for cable and MMDS operation, and have secured carriage on the formerly NTL owned digital cable system in Dublin...
has beaten it to this. The licensing documents refer to it as Chorus TV throughout. The forthcoming rebranding as UPC Ireland and the closure of the existing Chorus Sports Channel make it unlikely the channel will be launched in the form, or at least under the name intended.
Limerick City
Analogue and digital MMDS services are available from a transmitter on Woodcock Hill.Limerick's cable TV system descends from Westward Cable (later Irish Multichannel) and installation of the network began in the early 1980s. This covers most of the city as far as Castletroy
Castletroy
Castletroy is a rapidly growing and predominantly middle-class suburb of Limerick, Ireland and is the largest suburb in Munster. Its population is estimated at 40,000 as of 2010....
on the south side and Caherdavin
Caherdavin
Caherdavin is a northern suburban district of Limerick City in the mid-west of Ireland. It had a population in 2002 of 6,613....
on the north side. Unfortunately it never reached some areas of the city (such as around Clare Street), and most housing developments built since then have not been linked to the network. As of 2006 only analogue CATV is available on the system, with 18 unencrypted channels (including Channel 6
Channel 6 (Ireland)
3e is a commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 5 January 2009 . The channel is operated by Kish Media a subsidiary of TV3 Group owned by Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:The TV3 Group was established in January 2009...
and Chorus TV) and some encrypted channels (such as Sky Sports 1
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
and Sky Movies 1
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...
) - customers are supplied with cumbersome old Jerrold/General Instrument
General Instrument
General Instrument was an electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, PA specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. The company was active until 1997, when it split into which was later acquired by Vishay Intertechnology in 2001, CommScope and NextLevel Systems General...
decoders to avail of these extra channels. Signal quality varies greatly in areas, and is often quite poor due to the age of the cables and related equipment. MPEG compression artefacts are also noticeably high on some channels which are sourced from digital MMDS signals. Interruption of service is also quite frequent. Channels previously on VHF Band I
Band I
Band I is the name of a radio frequency range within the very high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum.Band I ranges from 47 to 88 MHz, and it is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting....
frequencies were recently moved to Band III
Band III
Band III is the name of a radio frequency range within the very high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum.Band III ranges from 174 to 230 MHz, and it is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting...
positions - this is to make way for the introduction of the cable broadband service.
Digital cable television and broadband services have slowly been introduced across the city since late 2006.
Future
In May 2005, Morgan StanleyMorgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
bought the Irish assets of NTL
NTL Ireland
NTL Communications Limited was a cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service company in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2005 it was owned by Liberty Global Europe , having been divested by NTL...
, on behalf of Chorus' owners UGC Europe (now Liberty Global Europe
Liberty Global Europe
Liberty Global, Inc. is an international media company and one of the largest broadband providers outside the United States of America. It was formed by the merger of the international arm of Liberty Media and UGC .-Europe:...
), with the intention of selling them on to Liberty once a Competition Authority investigation had been completed.
NTL Ireland included a certain amount of fibre backbone, and a cable network (digital is available throughout most of the network, but the vast majority of customers still take just analogue) that covers the areas of Dublin, Galway, and Waterford for which Chorus are not licenced. NTL also offer broadband to a higher number of subscribers, and did offer a telephone service, which was removed after it was revealed that the handsets they used could catch fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
. NTL also own the remaining MMDS licences (for cells covering counties Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
, Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, and Waterford
County Waterford
*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...
).
On 12 December 2005, Liberty Global Europe completed its acquisition of NTL Ireland, which became part of the UPC Broadband group within Liberty.
It is assumed that Liberty will merge NTL and Chorus, under their UPC (for television) and Chello
Chello
chello is the brand of internet service provider-activities of Liberty Global Europe , a provider of broadband internet access via cable in Europe, with estimated 1.3 million customers across its markets. LGE operates in 15 European, 4 Latin American and 2 Asian/Pacific countries...
(for internet) brands, and continue to consolidate their network. The company formed to acquire the network from Morgan Stanley is "UPC Ireland N.V.", fuelling speculation this will be the eventual name. A combined company would own all the MMDS licences and almost all the cable licences in the Republic of Ireland (the local networks in Dungarvan
Dungarvan
Dungarvan is a town and harbour on the south coast of Ireland in the province of Munster. Dungarvan is the county town and administrative centre of County Waterford. The town's Irish name means "Garbhan's fort", referring to Saint Garbhan who founded a church there in the seventh century...
, County Waterford
County Waterford
*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...
and Longford
Longford
Longford is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 7,622 according to the 2006 census. Approximately one third of the county's population resides in the town. Longford town is also the biggest town in the county...
town being the only major exception). They have announced that $200 million is to be spent replacing all coaxial trunk with fibre and upgrading all cable into homes with cable capable of carrying signals up to 850 MHz. This is claimed to be able to carry multi-channel cable and 30 Mbit/s internet concurrently.
From December 2006, Chorus began running NTL Ireland
NTL Ireland
NTL Communications Limited was a cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service company in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2005 it was owned by Liberty Global Europe , having been divested by NTL...
's customer service from Limerick, in line with UPC's merger of the two companies. On 22 March 2007, Chorus changed its digital cable line up to a subset of NTL Ireland's line up, using the same EPG numbering system as NTL. The MMDS lineup is still unchanged.
It is expected that Chorus will be renamed as UPC Ireland
UPC Ireland
UPC Ireland is Liberty Global Europe's telecommunications operation in Ireland. UPC Ireland is the largest digital cable television provider within the Republic of Ireland. As of September 2010 the company offers broadband internet, digital television and digital telephony to over 531,000 customers...
in the coming months, along with its sister company NTL Ireland. In preparation for this, from July 2007 advertising for both companies began using a composite logo reading "Chorus NTL - A UPC Company".