Sky takes round 1 in the battle of the bundles

Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at independent price comparison and switching service uSwitch.com comments: “Sky’s launch of See, Speak, Surf today is another demonstration of its intention to become a major telecoms provider this year. If its competitors weren’t already afraid of Sky’s capabilities in the communications arena, they should be now.

“Sky has timed the launch of See, Speak, Surf perfectly, coming hot on the heels of BT Vision yet artfully hijacking ntl:telewest’s long awaited rebrand to Virgin Media. We will be very interested to see how Virgin Media plans to stand up to the exceptional value offered in Sky’s new package, which is £136 a year cheaper than the current ntl 4Mb triple-play offering.

“While Sky has met the unbundling targets it set itself when it launched broadband last July, only 1 in 2 people can currently benefit from this offer and we look forward to the summer when 70% of the population will be eligible for this deal.

“We predicted last year that Sky would have 1 million broadband customers by the end of 2007 and, with competitive deals such as this being launched, this milestone is set to be reached with ease.”

Weller concludes: “As the UK gears itself up for the digital switchover, the battle of the bundles has begun.”