The cultural channel Arte has recently stopped being received in SD via Vodafone’s cable network. The broadcaster and the provider give completely contradictory information about the reasons.
Arte can no longer be received in SD via the Vodafone cable network. (Source: sumners/depositphotos.com)
- Vodafone no longer offers the SD version of Arte.
- Both parties make different statements about the background.
- However, the HD version is still available.
Some of you may have already noticed: Arte SD has been replaced by a boring information board at Vodafone. It is still possible to watch the free HD version, but given the double availability of many channels, it is not uncommon for one of the two versions, HD or SD, to be completely ignored.
This is how you bypass the Arte SD blackout at Vodafone
Based on the author’s own experiences, this happens to quite a few grandparents. The solution to the problem is, of course, obvious: just watch the HD version in the future. However, Vodafone and the broadcaster disagree completely about the cause of the Arte SD blackout.
Contradictory statements
When asked about it, Vodafone said: “The Arte program has been available since March 23 […] at the request of the broadcaster can only be received in HD quality”. The broadcaster meanwhile replies: “This step is based on a business decision by Vodafone”. So there can be no question of “at one’s own request”.
Both parties have been in legal disputes with each other for years
A little background information: from 2013 to 2020, Arte conducted a lawsuit against various cable providers, including Vodafone. The question of whether the distribution of Artes in German cable networks requires a contractual basis and, in particular, remuneration, was the subject of numerous court proceedings. During this time, Vodafone more or less developed into a monopolist on the German cable market, so that a settlement finally reached two years ago actually solved all the problems. Now the break again.
Who is telling the truth here?
Because one of the two is obviously not telling the truth here. Because of the previous history, which was explicitly about Vodafone’s financial demands on Arte, one could assume that this time it’s about dear money.
Will the dispute between Vodafone and Arte flare up again?
If Vodafone thinks Arte’s wish would be to pay too little for the feed into the cable network, the broadcaster can claim that the provision of the SD version fails because of a “corporate decision by Vodafone”. This might turn into a (very uncomfortable) shoe.
But why there are no problems with the HD version and the digital Arte offers at Vodafone is another matter.
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