TIM has recently distributed an update of its TIMVision Box which blocks the digital terrestrial decoder via software to those who have not subscribed to the TIMVision service. The problem is that the lock has been activated even for those who bought the boxes regularly, thus also paying for the digital terrestrial tuner.
TIM Vision Boxes are now only offered on loan for use: they are in fact part of the TIMVision subscription. Most users will therefore never run into this problem, because if they have the box they have an active subscription. However, in the past the boxes were also purchasable by the end user. Even today there is the possibility of become definitive owners by paying an adjustment which varies according to the number of years of subscription / rental of the decoder paid.
The document illustrating the box rental conditions explains how much you have to pay to complete the purchase – we are talking about €69 for the first year, €49 for the second, €19 for the third and €10 from the fourth onwards. A few lines further down, the same document indicates that among the technical features of the device there is, in fact, the “Integrated digital terrestrial“. It can be argued that if a decoder is on loan for use, it remains the property of TIM which can decide to do what it wants with the software functions, but if this is sold to third parties it is not correct to disable such an important function – or rather, put it behind a paywall.
It is plausible that someone decided to purchase the device and use it as a 360° set-top box, perhaps to make a slightly dated television smart, regardless of the interest in TM’s VoD service; remember that the box is based on the Android TV operating system, so it has access to the Play Store and all streaming apps such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, DAZN and so on. The presence of a digital terrestrial decoder is a rather big added value – there is no need to switch inputs on the TV (and perhaps remote control) to switch from Netflix to traditional live channels, which happens for example with devices such as the Chromecast with Google TV or NVIDIA SHIELD (it is true that it is possible to get around the limitation with apps like Kodi, but here we get a bit complicated).
For the moment TIM has not expressed itself publicly on the matter. In short, we do not know if it is a desired change or if it is some sort of bug / involuntary error. The fact remains that at the moment users find themselves with a device that lacks a guaranteed and decidedly important function.
