Sky Launches G.fast Broadband, with 100Mbps Minimum Speed Guarantee

Sky has launched its G.fast-powered ultrafast broadband, with prices starting from £39 a month and a minimum speed guarantee of 100Mbps.

Sky’s packages are using Openreach’s 330Mbps capable G.fast infrastructure. With Ultrafast 1, you can expect average speeds of 145Mbps downstream and 27Mbps upstream.

With the speed guarantee, if your download speed falls below 100Mbps for three consecutive days, you’ll be able to exit your contract without penalty.

Ultrafast 1 is available for new and existing customers for £39 a month on an 18-month contract, with out-of-contract pricing £5 higher, at £44 a month. Set up costs are £39.95.

Ultrafast 2, delivering speeds of 285Mbps, appears to be available as an upgrade for existing G.fast customers who live close enough the G.fast pod on their local street cabinet.

The catch is that to be a subscriber to either broadband deal, you’ll have to live in the approximately 10% of areas currently covered by Openreach’s G.fast infrastructure.

Sky claims that covers 2.5 million households, with an “estimated additional 390k households to be rolled out each quarter.” You can check if your home is one of them by plugging your address into Sky’s availability checker.

However, Openreach has no public plans for connecting more households to G.fast beyond March 2020 and seems to be pausing the rollout to concentrate on delivering full-fibre networks.

Sky, a purchaser of Openreach’s wholesale products, is expected to offer full fibre (FTTP) packages eventually, but they haven’t been taken to market yet.