Megacable to buy out Telecable?

[maw7815]

Friends of ours in Guad told us about this.

They said that Megacable provides them with remote controls that can change the language on their programs. You can watch one show in English and on another set with another remote watch in other languages.

That and high speed internet might convince me to switch!

maw

[lcscats]

I doubt it very much but who knows.

[moderator-2]

I thought they already owned it.

[carib]

Friends of ours in Guad told us about this.

They said that Megacable provides them with remote controls that can change the language on their programs. You can watch one show in English and on another set with another remote watch in other languages.

That and high speed internet might convince me to switch!

maw

Sometimes we can do that with Sky and we don't have high speed internet.

[All Day]

I doubt it very much but who knows.

Mexico’s Grupo Hevi Said to Hire Barclays to Explore Sale

By Jonathan Levin & Crayton Harrison - May 17, 2013 11:01 PM CT

Grupo Hevi, the closely held owner of Mexico’s Telecable TV service, has hired Barclays Plc (BARC) to explore a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

Among the potential buyers are Megacable Holdings SAB (MEGACPO), the nation’s largest cable-TV company, said two of the people, who asked not to be named because the plans are private. Hevi could fetch more than $500 million in a sale, one of the people said.

A sale would put one of the biggest remaining independent cable companies in Mexico up for grabs. Guadalajara, Mexico-based Hevi, named for founder and Chief Executive Officer Hector Vielma, has more than 350,000 subscribers across 10 Mexican states.

Megacable, also based in Guadalajara, said in February that it would be interested in acquiring Hevi if it was put up for sale. Grupo Televisa SAB (TLEVICPO), the Mexico City-based broadcaster, controls three cable carriers -- Cablemas, Cablevision and TVI - - and has said it aims to collect more.

[RVGRINGO]

We have Telecable basic, so only have our own remote and the SAP works just fine on our newer TV in the living room, whenever the programs are being broadcast in two languages. That is the case, most of the time, with History, Discovery, Nat Geo, etc., etc. CNN is available in English, as are many other stations, such as all the networks from NYC, plus some movie channels, cartoons and others.

Old TV sets in other rooms are not SAT capable and are therefore limited to the primary broadcast language.

[Mainecoons]

So do we but I've looked at Megacable and they offer a lot more. I doubt they'd be nearly as cheap, though.

Telecable has made huge improvements in picture quality and reliability in the last two years. Maybe they've been dressing it up for sale.

[RVGRINGO]

With the current outage, they may be discovering something different about fiber-optics: You cannot just twist them back together!

[ComputerGuy]

Doesn't Megacable provide the Internet service here through Telecable?

[otbdiane]

Telecable is so unreliable anything would be an improvement. I get sick and tired of paying for a service that I do not get 100% of the time and usually on a week-end when no one is available to complain to...just call back Lunes. Of course on Lunes they are so busy you cannot get thru...just have to trek to the office and hear the same lame reasons for the outage. Of course no credit applied for lack of service!

[Aquaponicsman]

With rumors of fiber optic from Telmex fying around (and some customers in Guad already using it) a Telecable buyout by Megacable might end up serving lakeside better. There are still people only 5 blocks from the Telecable office who cannot get Telecable. I'm sure that Megacable has worked out customer service and saturation much more efficiently than Telecable.

Plus, even though I love supporting independent companies, competetion between Megacable and Telmex for mulitiple services (phone, TV, internet) will cause price drops and more services, higher speeds, more options, and better reliability. Plus, I am sure they will offer all-in-one packages (phone, TV and Internet) for even deeper discounts.

Who knows, we might even start finding wireless hotspots around the Lake. It won't be like Hong Kong where you can't walk anywhere in the city without having a 50MB wireless hotspot available, but I think we will start to see these types of improvements soon, at least in the heart of some of the larger pueblos like Chapala, Ajijic and Jocotopec.

[maw7815]

Would Megacable have to run all new phone lines here? Any chance of keeping your same Telmex phone number?

maw

[bmh]

We have Megacable in Chiapas for tv and it is way better than telecable, I forget but it costs us around 300 or 400 pesos a month.

The Megacable service down there is very good. They usually come the same day as we call them, calls to make sure we are satisfied with the service and in general are pleasant to deal with...

[Mainecoons]

That's about twice what we pay Telecable here for basic cable.

[RVGRINGO]

Sometimes, folks confuse Telmex with Telecable.

Telmex = the phone company brought to you by Carlos Slim.

Telecable = the cable TV company for our area.

[bmh]

I discontinued Telecable because the service and quality was so lousy, so I pay twice as much for good service and good reception. big deal. You get what you pay for.

[bmh]

By the way Maincoon I just called Telecable who gave me a price of 301 pesos a month so I do not see the big difference, certainly not half price from Megacable.

[Mainecoons]

I pay one time per year for the entire year and get a big discount.

Renewed last September, they may have raised their rates some. But the annual rate is a much better deal than the monthly rate, at least it used to be.

[johanson]

By paying 12 months in advance, you get 14 months of service which is about a 14% discount, which isn't bad.

[bmh]

same seal with Megacable.

[ichbinsaege]

Who knows, we might even start finding wireless hotspots around the Lake.

There already are through TelMex - Infinitum. There are lots of Infinitum Movil wifi hotspots around. If you have internet through Infinitum (TelMex) then all you need to do is request username and set a password and you can connect to it.

[southernguy]

There already are through TelMex - Infinitum. There are lots of Infinitum Movil wifi hotspots around. If you have internet through Infinitum (TelMex) then all you need to do is request username and set a password and you can connect to it.

Yes but habe you actually ever tried using one of Telmex wireless hot spots I have in several places, airports etc and it might function to check e-mail but thats about it. I have found myself in airports both Guad and Mexico City buying lunch at a wings restaurant and using their wifi becuase telmex free stuff does not work.

[ComputerGuy]

Hmmm, I have used it at the Guadalajara airport without problem. I now give visitors my TelMex password so they can contact me if they get stuck leaving or arriving.

[ichbinsaege]

I have used it on the Chapala Malecon without a problem. I see people down there all the time with their laptops.

[southernguy]

Must just be the time of day I have used it in fact I was at the Joco Malecon this morning and it kept on timing out trying to upload stuff to several accounts, twitter, pinterest etc. in any case does not cut it for my needs, maybe mine are a bit more demanding than that of the average user. Then again since I switched form Telcel cell phone service to iusacell I have not had to use their service very often.