Now SKY Broadband.
Customers of
Sky Broadband’s (Sky plc) various UK broadband, phone and Pay TV products are being told to brace for an average annual price hike of 8.1% (£5.60), which is to be introduced from 1st April 2023. But crucially, this is less than the 14-15% of their main competitors and below the current level of inflation.
Admittedly, there’s rarely such a thing as a welcome price hike, but in Sky’s case it could certainly have been much worse – not that this is how customers will react when their bills start going up. But we should point out that the figure of 8.1% is just an average, thus some packages may go up by more than that, while others may see a smaller increase.
The fact that the latest increase is below the current level of CPI inflation (10.5%) doesn’t mean that customers won’t be able to exit their contracts penalty free, they will, once notified (you get 30 days to make a decision after being notified).
Ofcom’s rule on this can be
found here.
Consumer who are hit by mid-contract hikes could alternatively try haggling for a lower price when the notification drops (
Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill), although your mileage may vary. Meanwhile, those on benefits (
Universal Credit etc.) also have the option of taking a cheaper
Social Tariff – see our
Quick Guide to UK Social Tariffs (Sky have these too).
Sky notes that its average increase over the past two years has been c.13%, which compares well with competitors that have seen a c.25% average increase over the same period. Sky also has no plans to change their approach and pin their increases to CPI or RPI (inflation) – they’re the only major broadband provider to NOT do this. Mind you, inflation will be much lower by this time next year, so that may not matter.
At this point, it’s worth remembering that broadband providers are NOT immune to cost increases. Providers, much like consumers, are also suffering under the burden of rising supplier and lease costs, surging inflation, high energy prices, the ever-rising levels of consumer demand for data, as well as the cost of adding all sorts of new services (e.g.
FTTP) and catering for new regulations etc.
We have asked Sky if they can provide more details on which specific services are being increased and by how much, although it’s possible they may not be able to confirm that yet. Take note, Sky’s increases are usually also applied to by their NOW Broadband (
NOW TV) sub-brand too.
Finally, Sky said they want to continue to support their most vulnerable customers, which is why they have made a commitment to freeze the price of their broadband and mobile social tariff in 2023. On top of that, they’ve also committed to pass on any wholesale savings from
Openreach, should they introduce a social tariff wholesale price (they haven’t done so, yet).
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.p...nd-confirms-modest-annual-uk-price-rises.html
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