UK ISP Sky Broadband Unlimited Price Rises to GBP10 Per Month

Customers taking the ‘up to’ 17Mbps capable Sky Broadband Unlimited package may be displeased to learn that its standard price, after being reduced from £10 to £7.50 per month for the past year, is to later this morning be increased back to its original level of £10.

Readers with a long memory may recall that the standard price (i.e. the price charged outside of discounts) for Sky’s Unlimited service use to be £7.50 per month when taken with Sky TV and then £10 if taken separately (i.e. broadband and calls only), but this changed in August 2014 when Sky rebalanced their broadband price to be the same across both bundle types (here).

But recently Sky’s website has been carrying a warning that the standard price of their Sky Broadband Unlimited package would be increasing on 7th July (today) and we now know that it will be returning to the old price point of £10 per month. As usual the cost of Sky Line Rental is still payable on-top at £16.40 per month.

The move is not entirely unexpected as many of Sky’s biggest rivals have also recently been raising their standard broadband prices, although a sudden jump of +33.3% isn’t likely to be popular. On the flip side it’s quite common for ISPs to mask such increases by launching major new discounts and we’re anticipating something like that to follow later this week. In the meantime Sky’s half-price discount and £50 M&S voucher is still available.

The reason for such a hike, given the otherwise flat level of inflation, is likely down to a combination of factors, such as needing to cater for rising consumer data demands (e.g. video streaming) and or a desire to balance the books after their huge purchase of new TV sporting rights (here).