Sky UK Publish Details of Broadband, Phone and TV Price Hikes UPDATE

Last week we revealed that UK ISP Sky Broadband and Sky TV were set to increase their prices from the 1st April 2019 (here), but at the time we didn’t know the details. Sky has today published this detail, which for example confirms that their FTTC “fibre broadband” packages will increase by +£2 monthly.

Broadly speaking all of Sky’s current broadband, calling (phone) and TV out-of-contract (standard) prices will be going up by either £1 or £2 extra per month across the board. This doesn’t effect initial discounts for new customers, but only applies if you stay with the provider after the end of your initial minimum contract term.

Naturally if you have a bundle of these services and add-ons then you may be hit by a much more significant rise. We’ve pasted the new and old prices below, although it’s possible we might have missed some.

Sky’s 1st April 2019 Price Rises (Old Price in Brackets)

Sky Entertainment £27.00(£25)
Sky Multiscreen £13.00(£12)
Sky Sports HD £6.00(£6)
Sky Q Multiscreen Pack £13.00(£12)
Ultimate On Demand £12.00(£10)
Sky Cinema With Sports £11.00(£10)
Sky Cinema Without Sports £19.00(£18)
Cinema With Sports (Migration) £11.00(£10)
Sky Talk Anytime Extra (Anytime) £10.00 (£8)
Sky Talk Evenings and Weekends Extra (Free time) £5.00(£4)
Sky Talk Anytime Extra (24/7) £10.00 (£8)
Sky Talk Evenings and Weekends Extra (Weekends) £5.00 (£4)
Sky Talk Anytime Extra (Anytime UK) £10.00 (£8)
Sky Talk Evenings and Weekends Extra £5.00 (£4)
Sky Talk Anytime Extra £10.00 (£8)
Sky Fibre Max £27.00 (£25)
Sky Fibre Unlimited £22.00 (£20)
Sky Broadband Unlimited £12.01 (£11.01)

NOTE: The broadband prices appear to have split out the standard Sky Talk Line Rental charge. Once you add this Sky Broadband Unlimited becomes £31, Fibre Unlimited is £40.99 and Fibre Max goes to £45.99.

As we said last week, prices usually rise because operators are adding new services or content, developing new systems and consumers are also gobbling more data every year. Providers are also under pressure to adopt lots of new rules, such as having to cater for the costly automatic compensation system (here) and end-of-contract notification letters (here). Suffice to say that such changes cost money and customers naturally end up paying.

Many of the above increases go above inflation and may thus be subject to Ofcom’s rule against mid-contract price hikes, which means that existing customers are often able to exit their contract penalty free (you need to do this within 30 days of receiving Sky’s formal notification letter). Just remember that other major ISPs will also be increasing their prices.

Alternatively customers could try contacting the operator directly and haggling for a lower price (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill). However at the time of writing the above price increases only applies to new customers, although in past years they have tended to filter down to existing subscribers at a later date.

A Spokesperson for Sky told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We try to keep costs down and provide greater choice for our customers to pick the package that best suits them. We know price increases are never welcome, but we hope customers can see that our innovation, great content and our industry leading customer service provide good value.”

UPDATE 10:25am

Added a comment from Sky above.

UPDATE 1:44pm

Sky has published a new Tariff Guide, which shows that the cost of calling is also set to change for Sky Talk customers, albeit from 1st May 2019 instead of April. For example, the charge for non-inclusive calls to UK landlines will increase from 14.65p per minute to 15.5p and its a similar story elsewhere (calls to mobiles etc.).