Sky TV starts selling broadband package
Sky Television began marketing full-speed, unlimited ultrafast broadband plans to its pay-TV customers yesterday for what appears a market-leading price of $79 a month.
It is initially only offering the service to about 500,000 Sky box households who are in ultrafast broadband (UFB) coverage zones – starting with those who have previously registered interest.
It plans to open up Sky
Broadband to non-Sky TV customers – about two-thirds of households – later in the year, on terms it has not yet disclosed.
The launch of Sky Broadband was first tipped in May, 2019, and brings Sky into direct competition with Vodafone and Spark, with which Sky has had different degrees of partnership over the years.
Spark offers full-speed, unlimited UFB plans for $98 a month through its Skinny subbrand, or for $110 through its Spark brand, while Vodafone’s full-speed UFB plan costs $103 a month.
A check of offers on broadband comparison site Broadband Compare indicates Sky Broadband also undercuts other alternative providers’ regular pricing.
But the cost equation may be more complicated if Sky customers have other ‘‘bundles’’ they can take advantage of, such as combining broadband with power or with telco incentives such as Vodafone’s ‘‘Best Mates’’.
Extreme bargain-hunters could conceivably beat Sky’s pricing by switching between providers annually in the hope of taking advantage of introductory offers.
As with full-speed UFB services from other retailers, Sky Broadband should provide download speeds of about 900 megabits per second and upload speeds of about 400Mbps.
The majority of households might also find little if any performance difference with cheaper UFB plans that offer constrained speeds, most commonly 100Mbps. Nevertheless, Sky’s offer appears designed to add up for a significant chunk of its payTV customer base.
Sky head of broadband Dan Kelly said it would offer other plan options soon.
‘‘Heavy entertainment users often require more broadband [but] we know not all our customers’ needs are the same, particularly those with smaller homes or lighter broadband usage needs,’’ he said.
‘‘Heavy entertainment users often require more broadband.’’
Dan Kelly
Sky head of broadband