UPDATE UK ISP Sky Broadband Stop Offering Line Rental Saver Discount

Customers might now have one less reason to sign-up with Sky Broadband (BSkyB) after the operator quietly withdraw their pre-paid Line Rental Saver service, which reduced the cost of renting a fixed telephone line to the equivalent of £9.95 per month when paying 12 months in advance (£119.40).

Sky’s standard line rental fee is currently £15.40 per month and thus the attraction of pre-paying, in order to save a significant amount of money over the year, is often seen as a strong incentive to stay with a provider rather than move.

A spokesperson for Sky confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that the upfront line rental service had been withdrawn on 19th December 2013 and that the development would not affect anybody who has taken the offer prior to this date. Unfortunately Sky did not explain why it had taken such action or whether the offer would return.

Digging deeper, ISPreview.co.uk discovered some comments on Sky’s forum which suggest that the service might have been withdrawn due to unspecified “technical problems” with their billing or account management systems. This is something that has afflicted Sky products once or twice before and so would not be totally unexpected.

But the situation has left Sky at somewhat of a competitive disadvantage. Most of the other big broadband ISPs are still offering a discount for upfront line rental and few consumers can ignore the £3-£5 a month saving on their bills. It’s hardly ideal when you’re also in the midst of a bare knuckle fight with BT and its free TV sport content.

NOTE: Sky do have some share-unbundled (SMPF) lines so it’s still possible to take their broadband without using Sky Line Rental, though some other offers and discounts may not be available to you.

UPDATE 1:25pm

Sky has told ISPreview.co.uk that it has “no plans at present” to bring the discount back.