• £10 per month (including VAT)
• Unlimited bandwidth (no abuse though – i.e. hammering it 24/7)
• VPN Server (more flexible than a proxy server)

By routing your internet access via our VPN server you will no longer get the geo-blocking that throws up error messages along the lines of  “not available in your country” and will be able to access the following services just as you could as if you were in the UK:

• BBC iPlayer
• ITV Player
• 4OD
• Demand FIVE
• Sky Player
• Zattoo
• TV Catchup
• View TV
• Eurosport Player

You can read all about VPNs to your heart’s content on the UK Proxy Servers knowledgebase.

If you want to join up or have any questions post a comment below or email me at ben@britishinpoland.com.  When enough people contact me I will set up the server and start handing out accounts.

If you have read the story and comments on my earlier blog post about English Cars in Poland you will know that until now it has been possible (although difficult) to register a RHD vehicle if the minister of transport gives permission.

This is against the European Union directives on free movement of goods which is why the EU reminded Poland in October 2009 that refusing to register RHD vehicles is against EU law and demanded a change in Poland’s regulations.

This new ruling by the supreme court is a result of Grzegorz Dorobek attempting to register his RHD Vauxhall Vectra and getting denied by his local authorities in June 2008.  He took the matter to court from where it escalated.  The voivodeship court in Kielce (Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny w Kielcach) ruled in April 2009 that “the positioning of the driver on the right-hand side has a negative effect on road safety” and that improving safety should be a fundamental target in a given country, therefore EU laws have no foundation to demand registration of this type of vehicle.  This decision was upheld by the supreme court.

Dorobek’s lawyer argued that Poland’s current position is confusing given that some RHD vehicles are given permission and some aren’t.  After the ruling Dorobek said he would consider taking the matter further to the EU.

The answer is complicated so I thought I would write a few lines on the topic.

Through Your Aerial

Terrestrial channels such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc.. are transmitted via local transmission towers dotted around the UK and received by your aerial on the roof.  Clearly once out of range from one of these towers (typically 30 – 60 miles) you won’t be able to get a signal which means no chance of picking anything up abroad, let alone Poland.

Via Satellite

However all channels are also broadcast via satellites either in encrypted format or unencrypted format (known as “free to air” or just “FTA” for short).  Being able to receive the signal depends upon which satellite the channel is being sent from and whether it’s FTA or not.

All of the BBC domestic channels are broadcast on a satellite called Astra 2D alongside most of Sky Digital’s line-up plus ITV and Channel 4.  Unfortunately Astra 2D has a rather tight beam that is pointed directly at the UK and therefore a big dish is needed to get the signal if you are too far away.  According to this Astra 2D footprint you need at least a 3 metre dish to get the signal in Poland.

The dish size is a show-stopper for most people straight away – these dishes are quite expensive, if you rent your property your landlord probably won’t allow you to install it, and if you live in a built up area you might have problems with the authorities or your neighbours about it.

Sky TV

If you want to receive Sky then you also have the problem that you aren’t really supposed to be watching Sky outside of the UK according to their terms and conditions. When I first moved to Poland I just dismantled my existing Sky box and dish and paid a local installer to set it up again telling him that I wanted the dish pointed to Astra 2D located at 28.2° east.  I used a 1.2 metre dish which was adequate to receive most channels in Opole such as Sky One but not the terrestrial channels and some others.  Sky kept writing to me at my UK address saying that the box wasn’t plugged in to a phone line but I was able to fob them off for a few months before I cancelled it anyway.  Alternatively there are companies that specialise in providing active sky subscription cards and equipment for ex-pats living abroad – check on google for “sky tv cards europe”.

Polish TV

If you aren’t fussed about getting UK TV but just want to watch stuff in English occasionally then you could get one of the Polish TV packages such a N television or Cyfra+.  95% of it is in Polish but you can get things like BBC World News and with the digital HD packages you can sometimes change the soundtrack back to the original language.

On the Internet

Thankfully technology is coming to the rescue.  There are now websites such as tvcatchup.com or the BBC’s iPlayer which allow you to stream TV on your browser.  The problem so far is that these services are not available outside of the UK due to licencing issues.  The workaround to date has been to use some trickery such as a UK proxy or VPN to make your computer’s IP address appear to originate from the UK and not your true location.

European Union Directive – TV Without Frontiers

It’s worth mentioning a new piece of legislation that came into force just recently in December 2009.  It’s an EU Directive that says that no EU country can legally block residents of another EU country from watching content of another.  The offical press release about it is here at Europa and the directive can be downloaded here: 89/552/EC.

There is some argument about whether that means that people like the BBC are forced to make their signal available across the EU, or whether that just means that countries can’t block incoming signals, or whether 3rd parties such as TVCatchUp are allowed to redistribute the signals.

Of course people like the BBC aren’t too happy about this given that it could force them to give away their content across the EU.  This also has an impact on licence fees.  However as of 26/01/2010 despite this ruling already having come into effect services such as TVCatchUp and the iPlayer still do not allow access outside of the UK.  TVCatchUp have said on their forum that they are making technical preparations to allow access but until their lawyers give them the green light they will continue to block non-UK IP addresses.  This could go on for months or longer…

The BBC’s stance is that they have bought the rights to broadcast only in the UK and therefore can’t transmit abroad.  Most likely this will end up in court at some stage to determine whether copyright restrictions or EU directives take precedence and to get clarification.

Regarding the BBC iPlayer there is a thread on their forum about it.

Conclusion

Easiest and cheapest solution for now is to take out a subscription with a UK proxy service and watch TV on your computer.  Hopefully at some point in the future things will become easier.  If you live on a farm in the middle of nowhere and have money to burn then go and buy yourself a massive dish and get a ‘grey’ sky TV card.

UK Proxy/VPN Service

If enough people are interested then we could get together and split the cost of our own proxy server.  Please leave a comment if this is of interest.  If there are enough people prepared to pay £5 – £10 a month then I can register British In Poland as an ex-pat group and get a VPN account for our use.

UPDATE – Please see this post about the British In Poland VPN Server

In this post I ramble about my first visit to Poland on my motorbike, how I met my wife, our decision to move to Poland and why I never got around to visiting the Greenwich Millenium Dome.

P.S. Chris Tarrant – if you were listening drop me an email and I’ll see what I can do.

We spoke about how Chris met his wife, why he came to Poland, how he found a job, being a Dad, where to get a good curry, and what Chris thinks is wrong with Polish trees.  Listen to the podcast below to find out why Chris thinks the best place to learn Polish is in Egypt.

You can also check out Chris’s own blog here: Chris Thorborrow’s blog

Anyway I decided it’s about time to jump on the band wagon.  Otherwise in a few more years I’m going to have my kids saying to me things like “Dad, how can you not know what Twitter is?”  Well I do know what twitter is.  I think.  I just don’t understand why anybody would want one.

So I’ve gone and set up a facebook page for this blog: British In Poland at Facebook.  Don’t go asking me what the point of it is.  There isn’t one.  It’s just me experimenting to see what comes of it.  But please go ahead and become a ‘fan’ otherwise people will laugh at me.

I haven’t been hiding,  I have just been very very busy with work.  With two small kiddies at home I haven’t had much time to get on the computer in the evening either.

In 2010 I am pleased to announce that I am expanding my little web development company by taking on more employees and moving office.  Hopefully this means I will have extra capacity, won’t have to do so much ‘real work’ and can spend more time blogging :-)

P.S. Thinking rationally about this – if anybody wants a quote for a decent website or some web development work get in touch – I just realised that blogging is fun but I  still have to pay the bills :-(

1. Poland has a certain “quaintness” about it - there are lots of traditions and customs that have disappeared in the UK that are still evident in Poland, such as not working on Sunday.  In fact on Sunday my wife doesn’t even allow me to wash the car – not that I wash the car very often anway… :-)  If you happen to be out and about on a Sunday morning anywhere in Poland you will see people dressed up in their Sunday best heading off to church.  I am told that this used to happen in Britain back in the 50s….

2. Polish TV – Another thing I find both quaint and at the same time a little bizarre is the way that Polish TV just “stops” during the summer – it seems that all the TV serials just stop during July/August and they only screen repeats.  By late September new editions of everybody’s favourite programmes come on air.  Why don’t they just film a load of episodes in one go and spread them out throughout the year like in other countries? I can’t work it out.  Maybe it’s because during July/August nobody watches TV anyway because they’ve all gone on Holiday to the Baltic coast…

3. There is a cautious optimism in Poland – Whenever Brits ask me what I am doing now and I tell them I quit the UK and moved to Poland, the general reaction is along the lines of  “I envy you / good on you / this country is going down hill”.  In Poland Poles complain a lot about their country, but there is an underlying optimism that things are getting better and will continue to get better.  Everywhere there is evidence of improvement in the roads, pavements, renovation of public buildings, EU funded projects, EU development ads on TV etc.. In 2013 the postal market will be privatised and other markets such as the energy sector, ship building and so on are all going through the process or heading in that direction.

4. Family values are strong here – most Poles wouldn’t consider sticking Granny in an old people’s home.  Multiple generations living under one roof is quite common.  Although the divorce rate is rising it isn’t as endemic as that of the UK.

5. My local council doesn’t dictate to me about what days I have to leave the bins out, that they have to be on my property but right next to the pavement, that the lid has to be properly closed, that I have to segregate paper glass and plastic.  They don’t then charge me over a grand a year for it.  In fact there is no rubbish collection service whatsoever from my local council and in return I pay zero council tax.  Fantastic.  If I want somebody to take my rubbish away I can use a private company or do it myself.

August has been a positive month for currency exchange rates, bringing the unexpected news that France, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan have all emerged from recession.

France and Germany recorded 0.3% growth in the second quarter, leading to a rally in euro exchange rates. This in turn boosted currency rates in Eastern Europe, as markets benefitted from the prospect of higher production, trade and greater financial stability.

The Polish zloty has climbed 4.5% against the euro since July, and tends to rise alongside optimism in the market. Poland is still one of a handful of countries to have escaped recession and growth is set for 0.5% in 2009. However inflation is running well above target, at 3.6% and this could weigh on zloty in future.

Governor Owsiak, of Poland’s central bank recently stated: “going by zloty’s recent moves, one can’t identify a clear trend” and zloty remains subject to considerable volatility.

For your currency transfer, Currency Solutions offer excellent exchange rates and a more personal service. Personal currency brokers can protect you from currency risk and help you to capitalise on market volatility. To see how much you could save, call us on 027 740 0000 or visit www.currencysolutions.co.uk.

The graph belows shows the PLN rate falling against GBP since the start of July 2009:

Last week corporate earnings in America caused a worldwide rally for markets, sending many of the higher yielding currencies to the top of their ranges. However with significant unknowns remaining in the global economy, most failed to break key support levels and stayed within recent ranges as we await further evidence of recovery.

Internationally inflation continues to decline, with consumer prices falling across the US, UK and eurozone. Polish core inflation fell to 2.5% in June, while current account figures showed a EUR207 million surplus, supporting the zloty as it indicated reduced dependence on foreign lenders.

These figures helped the zloty to a near three-month high against the euro, climbing to 4.2767. At present Poland is the only Eastern European nation to avoid recession, with the economy growing by 0.8% in the first quarter. This is in comparison to Hungary which shrunk -6.7%, the Czech Republic which shrunk by -3.4% and Slovakia which declined by -5.6%.

Yet while investors in Poland are well placed compared to the rest of Eastern Europe, zloty exchange rates remain closely linked to international appetite for risk. This is causing currency volatility making timing even more important for currency transfer.

This forecast was supplied by Currency Solutions:

If you need to transfer zloty, or any other currency, speak to Martin Fox, senior currency broker at Currency Solutions to ensure you get the best exchange rates and reduce your currency risk.

To see how much you could save, send us an enquiry or give Martin Fox a call on +44 (0)207 740 0000. We look forward to speaking with you.