Sky UK Unveils Annual Broadband, Phone and TV Price Hikes

Customers of Sky’s (ISP Sky Broadband) various UK broadband, phone and Pay TV products are being warned to brace for yet another round of price hikes, which will be introduced between 1st April 2021 (internet and TV) and 1st May 2021 (phone). Notifications are being issued between 17th February and 27th March (email or post).

According to Sky, the average price increase for impacted customers will be just over £3 month, while no customer should see more than a £6 per month increase. Meanwhile new customers will also get the increase (which they’ll be told about at point of sale), but it’s not effective for them right away (until the aforementioned dates).

Annual price hikes like this are fairly common among all of the largest providers because they’re frequently adding all sorts of new services (e.g. HDR support, TV shows, FTTP etc.), running big first year discounts, adapting to new rules (e.g. automatic compensation), developing new systems (e.g. improved switching) and consumers are also gobbling significantly more data (COVID-19 has had a particularly big impact on broadband usage).

Speaking of COVID-19, Ofcom and the Government have also put pressure on communications providers to help protect vulnerable consumers and school children during the pandemic. But naturally any additional measures or protections ultimately have a big cost (one study put the figure at £940m – here) and, like it or not, that has to be recouped from somewhere.

Summary of Sky Price Increases

· Sky Signature will increase by £1 to £26

· Multiscreen will increase by £1 to £15

· Sky HD will increase by £1 to £7

· Sky Ultimate (Netflix add on) will increase by £1 to £5

· BT Sport will increase by £2 to £27

· Sky Broadband Essential will increase by £3 to £25

· Sky Broadband Superfast will increase by £1 to £28

· Sky Talk Anytime Extra and Talk International Extra will increase by £2 p/m. Talk Evening and Weekends Extra is unchanged.

However, the prices for Sky Cinema and Sky Kids, as well as in-contract Sky Sports, will not be increasing in this round of hikes.

A Sky spokesperson said:

“We appreciate the importance of keeping our customers informed, connected and entertained. We know price increases are never welcome and we try to keep prices down whilst still delivering the content our customers love, the flexibility to choose the package that suits them and with leading customer service.”

Some of the hikes are so big that existing customers should be able to make use of Ofcom’s rule against mid-contract price hikes (i.e. you should be able to exit your contract penalty free within 30 days of receiving Sky’s notification letter). Alternatively, you could try contacting the operator and haggling for a lower price (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill). But remember, most of the major ISPs also implement similar price hikes.