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I believe dear old Aunty BBC now ruled by accountants, decided to make money for what used to be a public service channel. The rights to air BBC programs were sold off around the world, which is fair enough for the richer countries, but the poorer ones, some of whom have a long association with Great Britain could not afford it. Seems a shame really that countries get cut out like that, but that is what happened to Belize. The only way to get BBC World now is via a satellite feed.
Yes Martin I agree, StarChoice has too much golf on ice.LOL.
On another note, does anyone know who is screening the World Cup this June? I heard ESPN making noises about it, but so far no announcements.

I would like to see BBC America on the list of available programs.

We definitely score points for price we pay on cable here versus what we pay for internet.

The only problem with the cable here is that the picture is usually grainy, making flat screen HD TVs a waste of money, there is no TV guide and you can't use a DVR. Other than that, it is the best value 'utility' on the island!

I guess you get what you pay for.

LOL. Not really, we pay premium electric rates but do not get premium service and don't get me started on BTL!!!

Oh how we all get used to comforts. How long ago were you off the grid for both water and elec JZB?

We've been off grid for both water and power for 5 years since we first came here. No power cuts no brown outs, no water shortages, and best of all no bills.
We use solar power which has cost us US$150 in five years when a charge controller got a lightning strike.
Now phones are another story...

What about the set up Chris ? that tends to be rather expensive to get set up with solar and should be incorporated into your costs per year.

I lived on generator and batterys for years up north before power came up, real inexpensive but costly to set up in the first place.

Gaz, you are of course right that the purchase cost has to be included. However there is a common misconception about solar power.
Solar is cheaper than the most obvious alternative-diesel generator, by far.
Why?
Well, on the assumption you require electricity 24/7 which as a resort we do, then you have to have a battery bank to store your overnight power, and an inverter to convert it from 12vDC to 120vAC WHICHEVER system you choose.
Now we come to the power generation itself. I paid US$8000 for our solar panels six years ago, and they haven't given us a moments trouble in that time.Its worth noting that those same panels today would be around US$5000 and prices are still falling
As it happens we have a diesel generator too. That cost US$10,000 supplied locally, and in the five years we have had it it has cost (in round numbers) US$3000 in repairs, plus of course the 2 hours per gallon of diesel it consumes, plus filters, plus lube etc.
The fair comparison between solar and diesel (or any other off grid system like wind or hydro) should be between the GENERATING methods ie between solar panels and the diesel motor itself.
On that basis solar comes out way ahead.
I do agree however that when comparing to the grid the cost of the "off grid"sytem has to be amortised out over its lifetime whatever that turns out to be. But then what price do you put on having continuous power with no brown outs and no fridges or washing machines failing as a result.
Electricity prices however are inevitably going to rise in the future while we rely on oil for generation. That too has to be factored in.
Its not a straight forward calculation, and living where we do we had no choice. But personally I would choose solar above grid power all over again if the question arose.