Sky's business update

Following Sky’s business update today, Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at independent price comparison and switching service www.uSwitch.com comments:

“It is impressive to see that, six months ahead of schedule, Sky has delivered on its promise of making its broadband service available to 70% of UK households. Just one year on from launching its service, Sky now owns over 5% of the broadband market with 713,000 active broadband customers – 40% of which, according to Sky, have recently switched from key rivals BT and Virgin Media.

“The switches from BT could be attributed to the value for money that Sky offers. Our recent Customer Satisfaction Report shows that 59% of BT customers are satisfied with the value for money they get from their service but the figure rockets to 83% satisfaction amongst Sky customers. On the other hand, switches from Virgin Media could be down to the perceived loss of channels, most notably Sky One, following the highly publicised spat between the two media giants.

“By the autumn, customers will be able to take Sky telephone line rental as part of their communications package. This would enable customers to cease their contact with BT, should they wish to, and ultimately result in a single, less expensive bill for their services.

“Sky has acknowledged that technical support is a key area for development following our recent poll that showed nearly 6 out of 10 of its customers not satisfied with the level of support they are receiving. It is continuing to invest in this area and customers will welcome today’s commitment from Sky to come top of the uSwitch.com poll next time around.”

Weller concludes: “We would still like to see a greater commitment from Sky to roll out its LLU programme beyond 70% of households. Currently this leaves 30% of UK households unable to take advantage of the ‘free broadband’ element of Sky’s proposition. This will especially hit people in rural areas that may have turned to Sky as they are struggling to receive a strong TV signal. While they are unable to take advantage of the same deals as those in more highly populated areas, they are effectively being treated as second-class citizens and we would like to see this two-tier pricing system called to a halt as swiftly as possible.”