Sky Launches Free Broadband Service
Sky launches its free broadband service today, saying that it will invest around £400 million in the development of the business over the next three years.
Advance registration for the service begins at noon today, with sales set to start in early August.
The launch of Sky Broadband has been made possible by Sky’s network which covers 28% of households including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The network is rolling out across the UK and Sky expects it to pass more homes than the entire cable industry by early next year, reaching 70% of all UK households by the end of 2007.
Sky is launching three different broadband products, Sky Broadband Base (which is free to Sky digital customers covered by the Sky Broadband network), Mid (which will cost £5 a month) and Max (which will cost £10 a month). The packages offer different download speeds and monthly usage limits.
James Murdoch, chief executive said: “Sky Broadband is a compelling product which rewards our eight million customers with a quality service offering flexibility and great value. Sky is ideally equipped to enter the large and growing markets of broadband and telephony and by pushing the boundaries of the home entertainment market, we will help our customers realise the full potential from technological convergence.”
Michael Philpott, principal analyst at Ovum, said: “This will be of interest to existing Sky customers, who will see both the good value of the broadband service, and the tie-up with multimedia services to both TV and PC. Where the proposition will become really interesting will be in 2007 when Sky start to integrate its TV and broadband services down to the Television.
“At the end of the day, success in the UK broadband market is going to come down to four things: scale, correct multimedia strategy, good customer service and of course, brand. Sky are in a good position on all four fronts.”
Earlier this month, NewsLine reported that Sky was set to enter the “free” broadband arena (see BSkyB Could Enter “Free” Broadband Battle).
Sky: 08702 40 40 40 www.sky.com