Millions of Sky Customers Face £36 Pice Hike

Sky is hiking the prices of its broadband and TV packages by an average of £3 a month from 1 April.

Subscribers to Sky’s Broadband Essential, its basic ADSL internet package, will see their monthly bills rise by £2, to £22 a month for those contract.

Its entry level TV package, Sky Entertainment, will also increase in cost by £2, to £24 a month for in contract customers. TV add-on Sky TV Multiscreen will rise by £1 a month to £14 a month for customers in contract. Sky HDTV subscribers will also see an additional £1 on their monthly bills, with those in contract now paying £6 a month.

Both in-contract customers and out of contract customers, already paying more, will see the same price hikes.

With many customers subscribing to both broadband and TV, the average bill increase for Sky customers will be £3 a month, or £36 a year.

However, not all subscribers will feel the sting of these price hikes. Sky’s fibre optic broadband package, Sky Broadband Superfast, will stay at the same price (£27 with a contract), as will Sky Cinema, Sky Kids, and Sky Sports for existing customers.

Sky will be notifying affected customers of the price increases by letter or email between 20 February and 25 March.

A Sky spokesperson said: "We know price increases are never welcome, so we try to keep prices down while continuing to bring customers the best entertainment all in one place, leading customer service and even more flexibility to choose the package that best suits them.”

Ofcom allows broadband and TV customers to exit their contracts without penalty if their provider raises their bills above the level of inflation. However, because Sky’s price increases are in line with inflation—now pegged at 1.8%—customers in contract are locked in, unless they want to pay hefty termination fees. 

However with an estimated 40% of broadband customers out of contract with their provider, there are likely millions of Sky customers who can dodge these increases—and the inflated out of contract pricing they’re already paying—by switching to a new provider or contract.