(05-06-2022, 03:44 PM)Markymark Wrote: What was the total cumulative number of OnD /ITV Digital subscribers, and therefore boxes in use when they folded in May 2002?
It wasn't millions, (or else they'd have remained in business). Some of the early Freeview era boxes from 2002 were truly dire, and either died or caught fire before DSO anyway.
I seem to remember a peak of about 1.2 million ONdigital subscribers, but remember that ONdigital was in existence for nearly 4 years and the minimum subscription was only one year. The 'churn' rate was reportedly very high - I seem to remember figures of the order of 20% of subscribers not renewing - so for 1.2 million actives you could easily add on another 500,000 or more lapsed subscribers. Obviously those boxes continued to work quite well to receive the free channels so there's no suggestion that these boxes had magically gone beyond use the moment a subscription was cancelled.
In addition ONdigital shifted a significant number of 'prepaid' set top boxes which were simply never activated and never made it on to the subscription figures. Then add on the non-ONdigital boxes specifically bought for FTA receiption only - Daewoo, Fusion, Labgear, Nokia, Pace, Pioneer, Triax, Samsung - which also all died once the modulation system changed, and I don't think there's any doubt that you are easily past two million if not more.
I had at least four set-top-boxes which became ewaste following DSO, and if DVB-T2 became the default that would do the same for at least four newer sets and boxes that I own. Multiply that by the whole country and that's a very significant amount of equipment being needlessly wasted. (And the whole "you can just plug in a new set top box!" doesn't work if the equipment that no longer works IS a set top box or a PVR.)
The difference with old routers and smartphones is that people can stick those on eBay or give them to friends or charity shops or whatever, and they find a second life because they are still usable. Whereas there is no use whatsoever for digital TV equipment that doesn't pick up TV any more.