Expats living in Spain, especially on the more southern coasts, have gone from being able to receive all UK TV channels via their existing SKY satellite dishes to only having a few random channels.
A couple of years ago in a move that was seen by many as a way to stop overseas expats in the Mediterranean receiving SKY, but according to SKY a way to improve the signal in the UK and Ireland by reducing the overall footprint. In order to do this they actually moved many of the popular channels and all main ‘terrestrial’ channels like BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to new satellite. This focused the satellite ‘beam’ more on the UK and therefore improve reception.
To people in the UK they saw very little, if any. Difference to their reception. In Spain however and across much of southern Europe, most people suddenly lost their satellite reception.
No more SKY satellite TV.
Well that is not exactly true. Many of the subscribed channels like SKY sports and films still worked but it meant that there was no normal TV to watch those popular soaps, realty shows, quiz shows or cookery programmes that had all become second nature to us.
So what now?
Well it did not take long for the entrepreneurs to find ways to provide UK TV (and more) to expats abroad. It is fair to say that at first there were a few Internet options that were very poor. The service would constantly break up or even stop all together so it was not an enjoyable experience.
Things have come a long way since those days and now there are Internet services that rival, or even surpass what used to be available on SKY satellite. Only a couple of years ago Internet in Spain was very hit and miss with most people lucky to get over 1 meg. These days with Fibre available in many locations and with normal broadband services averaging over 5 meg, things are much better. 3G and 4G are even options in areas where there is still shaky Internet.
Most IPTV services use a box called a Mag 250, which is a type of receiver connected to the Internet. It connects to a ‘server’, which you can change at any time. The server is basically the service you have subscribed to, to provide your TV services.
These subscriptions vary massively depending on the company you have chosen to use. The box even allows you to record to memory stick and many services come with catch up TV.
One of the best services we have come across is Best TV Choice. They have their own servers and provide a comprehensive Video and Audio club as part of the package. With all UK TV, Sports and Films available even within their basic packages I have not seen any to rival them as yet. MLB중계