System costs
Posted on 15th May at 10:28 AM
The cost of a system will vary depending on a number of factors including property size, type, location, residents’ choice, and landlord agreement.
There are many factors affecting the cost of preparing a communal TV aerial system for switchover. The most important ones include:
- Whether the system is MATV or IRS.
- Whether the work is to upgrade an existing system, or to install a new one.
- Whether an IRS is to be 5-wire, 9-wire, 13-wire, etc.
- Whether an IRS will cater for satellite personal video recorders such as Sky +.
- How cabling is run: the type of containment, whether underground runs are needed, etc.
- Geographic location.
Industry practice is generally to give costs per outlet (sometimes also referred to as price per point). However, as some items of equipment in systems do not multiply with the number of outlets, these figures should be used with caution on systems with fewer than about 10-15 outlets.
The following figures may be used for budgetary purposes, but bear in mind that as switchover approaches, prices may rise due to shortage of competent installers.
MATV: Upgrade
An MATV upgrade involves replacing the head-end (aerial, amplifiers, filters), but re-using the distribution cabling and outlet sockets. This costs typically £40-£50 per outlet.
MATV: New installation
A new installation of head-end, distribution cabling and outlet sockets costs typically £120-£150 per outlet. If there is an existing system that has to be taken out and disposed of, an additional £10 per outlet should be included.
Note that these costs are not greatly different from installing an IRS. Therefore, if replacement of an entire MATV system is required, consideration should be given to replacing it with an IRS.
Basic IRS
A basic IRS uses a 5-wire backbone (i.e. receives satellite from one orbit location), and feeds a single outlet in each dwelling (i.e. no support for Sky +). Costs are typically in the range £165-£220 per outlet.
Enhanced IRS
The two most common enhancements to IRS are Sky + capability, and 9-wire and 13-wire backbones for additional satellite locations. The incremental costs for these over a basic IRS are typically as shown below:
No Sky Plus - 9-wire (£25), 13-wire (£55)
Sky Plus - 9-wire (£45), 13-wire (£75)
Parking Channels
As part of digital switchover we are squeezing more signals into less space than is currently used for television. Doing this across the country is a bit like trying to solve one of those children’s sliding puzzles which has 8 captive pieces and one space, but in three dimensions! Unfortunately, in some areas, having one blank space is not enough and, to complete the puzzle, we need to “cheat” and remove one of the pieces to allow us to move the other pieces around, before putting it back in again. This may have an implication on your contracts. For more detailed information.
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