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Why does Belgacom charges me €8 per month for the Decoder?
Hello everybody,
I have a "Pack Internet Everywhere + TV + Telephony" with Belgacom. My bill has an amount of €8 to pay towards the Décodeur. I was wondering why I am being charged this amount and what I can do to not pay it. I have the old Belgacom bbox-2 and have had it since December 2012.
Thanks you for your help/advice
The Decoder is the owned by Belgacom and you are charged a monthly rental unless you have purchased it at a cost of €225 (incl. VAT)
http://www.belgacom.be/en/id_t_tv_equipment/personal/products-and-servic...
It is the decoder that decodes the TV signal that comes down the line into a signal that your TV set can understand.
All the Belgian TV suppliers have them (and charge for them) in one way or another, so if you want digital TV you have no alternative. Test Achats seem to consider them a rip-off, particularly as you need one for each set, but I don't see the system being changed any time soon.
I'm with Telenet and pay exactly the same price in order to watch digital TV and make recordings on a hard disk to watch later.
"what I can do to not pay it"
Cancel that element of your contract and rely on the basic cable supply though you won't save €8 a month as the VAT rates are lower if you have more than the basic cable - or, at least, they are with Telenet.
get a satellite dish if you can and watch UK channels for FREE FREE FREE
"Why does Belgacom charges me €8 per month for the Decoder?"
So that you can watch Belgacom TV.
Your Belgacom bbox-2 is the modem. It doesn't decode the signals into TV. You need both.
If staying here for a very long time best to purchase a satellite dish.
Satellite dish gives you free UK channels but for other channels check out TV Vlaanderen.
http://www.tv-vlaanderen.be/home.aspx?mkwid=sUEPqA7li_dc&pcrid=424779353...
I pay €130 per year, but it depends on what package you choose.