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Monday, January 15, 2007

Surf, Speak, See

Sky has launched a bundle for £26/month with a £20 connection charge. £11/month is still payable to BT for line rental. In the bundle you get:
  • Surf - 8MB max download speed (RADSL) with 40GB limit and Wireless Router. You must be in the Sky LLU coverage area. This is priced a £5/month as a standalone product for existing Sky subscribers.
  • Speak – Free Evening and Weekend Non-Geographical Calling. This is priced at £5/month as a standalone product for existing Sky subscribers.
  • See – All Six Entertainment Bundles plus all free channels. The Bundles are detailed here and are priced at £21 as a standalone product.
This is the opening salvo from Sky in the forthcoming Virgin Media (ex-ntl) battle, which should provide hours of entertainment for innocent sideline viewers.

It will be interesting to see if there is any knock-on in the broadband market. Personally, I don’t think the offer is that great but then I wouldn’t even dream of a TV subscription package without Cricket as part of the bundle.

One interesting part of the offer is that Sky is not interested in Wholesale Line Rental and the customer still receives a bill from BT for line charges. This is diametrically opposed to the Carphone position who insists that although WLR is a zero margin product it is essential for reducing churn.