SimplySwitch comments on Sky Talk and Broadband

Karen Darby, founder of SimplySwitch.com, the price comparison and switching service, comments: "Sky's bundle packages have proven popular with customers. However, anyone thinking of signing up should bear in mind that, though reasonably priced, Sky's home phone and broadband offers are only available to Sky TV subscribers.

"Customers not interested in Sky TV should look elsewhere as they'd need to pay a minimum of £15 a month for the most basic TV package in order to take advantage of cheap home phone or broadband. With Sky, line rental (£11 per month) is still paid to BT, so this cost must also be taken into account when comparing deals. Another barrier for many households is that Sky's high-speed broadband is currently available to just 61% of the UK.

"Sky's telecoms products have been well received, which is great for competition in the sector and should help drive prices down further. However, Sky's ongoing sparring with Virgin Media has been less than positive. It is interesting to see that the negative publicity it created has failed to put a dent in Sky's results."