Sky Customers Face Price Hikes of up to £72/Year

Millions of Sky broadband, TV and home phone customers will see their bills rise by up to £6 a month from this spring, the telecoms giant has announced.

Sky is raising prices across its range of products but says customers won’t see hikes of more than £72 per year, regardless of how many products they have. Just 8% of customers will see their bills rise by that much. The average price hike will be just over £3 per month or £36 per year.

Prices will rise on the following products for customers within their minimum contract term.

• Sky Signature TV package will increase by £1/month—from £25/month to £26/month
• Multiscreen will increase by £1/month—from £14/month to £15/month
• Sky Ultimate (the TV extra that gives you Netflix) by £1/month—from £4/month to £5/month
• BT Sport will increase by £2/month—from £25/month to £27/month
• Sky Broadband Essential (ADSL, 11Mbps average download speeds) will increase by £3/month—from £22/month to £25/month
• Sky Broadband Superfast (FTTC, 59Mbps average download speeds) will increase by £1/month from £27/month to £28/month
• Sky Talk Anytime Extra will increase by £2/month—from £10/month to £12/month
• Sky Talk International Extra will increase by £2/month—from £12/month to £14/month

Prices of some products, including Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, Sky Kids and Sky Talk Evenings and Weekend, won’t change.

Those out of contract with Sky will also see their prices rise but the increases will be individualised and outlined in Sky’s letter or email to them.

Because these price hikes are above the rate of inflation and above the level agreed in Sky contracts, broadband and home phone customers who are both in and out of contract with Sky can leave without facing early termination fees. You can leave anytime within 30 days of being notified of the price increases.

Unfortunately, TV customers within their minimum contract won’t be able to switch away penalty-free but may be able to haggle with Sky to bring their bills down.

The TV and broadband pricing changes will take effect on 1 April while hikes for landline phone packages will come into force on 1 May. Sky says it will be notifying affected customers by email or post between tomorrow, 17 February and 27 March. The company is urging customers to wait until they receive the notifications to contact Sky to discuss the changes.

A spokesperson for Sky said: “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.”

Sky has 12.7 million TV subscribers, making it the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the UK. It’s also the second-largest ISP after BT, with 6.2 million broadband customers.