Sky UK Formally Launch FTTP Broadband as COVID19 Hits Call Centre

UK ISP Sky Broadband has just officially announced the launch of their new Openreach Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based “Superfast” (59Mbps) and “Ultrafast” (145Mbps) broadband package for new and existing customers from £35 per month. Meanwhile an outbreak of COVID-19 has forced their Sheffield call centre to close.

Admittedly today’s news won’t come as much of a surprise to ISPreview.co.uk’s readers as we’ve already unofficially reported on it a couple of weeks ago (here). The announcement means that the service should now be available to ALMOST everybody (new and existing customers) covered by Openreach’s FTTP network (currently 3.5 million UK premises, rising to 4.5m by March 2021).

However, we understand that Sky is still trying to polish their migration journeys and thus a small number of homes in FTTP areas aren’t yet able to order it. The provider is currently in the process of trying to resolve this issue as soon as possible, but sadly it wasn’t possible to do so in time for today’s announcement.

At present Sky Ultrafast (FTTP) costs from £35 per month for the first 18 months of service (£44 thereafter) and comes attached to a £19.95 setup fee. You can expect to receive their latest Sky Broadband Hub (SR203) router, unlimited usage, a 100Mbps minimum guaranteed download and various other things. The average upload rate on this package is 27Mbps. Sky’s Superfast tier is also available via both FTTP and FTTC.

Aman Bhatti, Director of Propositions at Sky Broadband, said:

“Launching FTTP, the UK’s most advanced broadband technology, reflects Sky’s commitment to innovation and providing customers with the fastest and most reliable broadband possible. This means, with Sky Broadband Ultrafast, we can offer our customers average speeds that are 12x faster than standard enabling customers to download, stream, browse, work from home and game freely.”

Separately, Sky has had to close one of their big customer service centres in Sheffield (Concourse Way) after an outbreak of COVID-19. A Sky spokesperson said: “Protecting our colleagues and customers is our top priority. Following a number of confirmed cases, we closed our Sheffield site on 26th October for at least seven days as a precautionary measure.”

Sadly, it’s not the first time that COVID-19 has forced Sky to close one of their call centres. A similar issue occurred in Cardiff during March 2020 (here) and the current resurgence of the virus raises the prospect of this becoming a problem again for all broadband providers. Closures like this are unavoidable due to the need for a deep clean, but they can also create longer delays when trying to contact support.