SKY to offer FREE Broadband this afternoon

[skywalker1010]

Hopefully not mentioned already, did a search Nothing on front page as yet 11am

But SKY have just announced that they plan to launch FREE Broadband today.

see http://www.sky.com/broadband/




Sorry.... MODS Please delete or shift over to Sky normal forum, before anyone smacks my Arse!. Nick UK already beat me to it half an hour ago.

[RyanK]

May be interesting :-)

[Nick_UK]

Already in discussion here in the general Sky forum.

[ash]

This morning Sky has announced the long awaited plans for its broadband service which is to be free to Sky customers. This can prove particularly attractive to many households who already have a Sky subscription, and worrying to other ISPs who are not in a position to be able to offer such combined services which is bringing the Internet industry far closer to the water/electricity/gas utilities businesses which are selling dual fuel and water packages across each others' markets.

The Sky deal offers a free connection with a 2 Mbps downstream speed regardless of which TV package you subscribe to. In addition to this, it will be offering faster services up to 16 Mbps for those who have bigger requirements from just £10 per month. Each customer will receive a free wireless router and a year's use of McAfee Internet Security Suite. Sky is offering professional home installation services (£50 unless you subscribe to the Max up to 16 Mbps package), similar to its satellite installation service to help consumers get connected. Finally, they are also providing Sky Talk which includes anytime UK landline calls for £5 per month (usual catches apply regarding very long calls and non-geographic numbers.)

All the products are available to any existing Sky digital customers covered by the Sky broadband network as well as new customers who can buy a Sky digital subscription from £15 per month, subject to a minimum one year contract.

The Sky network covers 28% of households in cities such as London, Birmingham Manchester Edinburgh and Glasgow although a fast rollout is expected with a 70% target by the end of 2007.

Users should note that the basic free package is limited to 2GB monthly usage. Those wishing to upgrade to the mid-level package will receive an up to 8 Mbps connection and a 40GB usage allowance for £5 a month extra whilst the top end service at £10 per month offers speeds up to 16 Mbps (obviously subject to your location and suitable line conditions) with "unlimited" downloads and installation (subject to fair use policy).

There are also options available for those not within Sky's broadband network directly for a modest fee. You can register for Sky Broadband from noon today, but sales are due to begin in early August. For availability and more information go to www.sky.com.

Here you, thanks to ADSLGuide. I think most are looking at the Max package, how the "Fair Usage Policy" is.

[richard plumb]

sounds good to me. £5 a month should be enough (40GB)compared to my £25 with demon.

No checker yet, but I think I was in the area for easynet before

[JohnWH]

Hmm, looking like goodbye NTL for me, just dumped them for TV due to faffing around on HD front, looks like they're going to be loosing my internet business as well now.

John.

[ibizarich]

I've filled in the form and click submit, but I don't get a confirmation message, just the blank form again.

Anyone else get a confirm?

[Vonzack]

Just got the same as you, others in the Sky forum have said the same too.

[mmace]

so for me it's be £17 a month for 2Mb connection and limited to 40Gb downloads, no thanks!

[Jonstone]

Originally Posted by ashmufc

Here you, thanks to ADSLGuide. I think most are looking at the Max package, how the "Fair Usage Policy" is.

Given that Sky run their own movie download service now I would imagine you would have to be downloading huge amounts of material to fall foul of the fair usage condition.

I will probably be taking this up myself, but it does strike me that so many people on these forums complain about Skys dominance of the television market but are more than happy to help them take over the provision of the internet in this country too.

[JagoPlasma]

hmmm damn i just switched to bt broadband a week ago, wonder if i can cancel

[zAndy1]

If your exchange is LLU enabled this is a damn good proposition, if not it's not even worth considering really. Unfortunately I fall into the latter category so nothing for me to get excited about really...

[Gae]

I will probably be taking this up myself, but it does strike me that so many people on these forums complain about Skys dominance of the television market but are more than happy to help them take over the provision of the internet in this country too.

Yes. I'm hesitant to rush in to this even though I pay BT £17 a month for 2Gb speed and download limit. The worry is, going by Sky's track record, what's to stop them whacking up their prices once they have cornered the market?

I'll wait before biting. Hopefully, BT and other Broadband suppliers might respond by dropping their prices/download limits in order to keep competitive. It's about time we all had free internet access isn't it?

Gae

P.S. As well as attracting new customers, it's also a good way for SKY to keep their customers subscribed to their SKY packages, rather than just going with the free-to-view channels. Clever!

[spikey1]

Whatever anybody says many people with high download speeds use p2p.

I bet use of p2p sites will be either totally blocked or severely restricted as Sky will (probaly quite correctly) see this as a threat to their movie packages and ppv services, subscribing to them will give them control over what you can access.

[tripodjw]

Originally Posted by ibizarich

I've filled in the form and click submit, but I don't get a confirmation message, just the blank form again.

Anyone else get a confirm?

Try switching your browser to allow all 3rd party cookies while you submit the form. It then worked for me, and i am luckily in an area serviced by their network.

P.S. As well as attracting new customers, it's also a good way for SKY to keep their customers subscribed to their SKY packages, rather than just going with the free-to-view channels. Clever!

The commit time is 12 months, just like most other BB providers, and lets face it most people in this forum have not long just signed up to 12 months of SKY HD - so prob only a month or two extra tie in for us.

I currently pay £15 a month for 1MB so £10 for up to 16MB sounds like a bargain to me.