Sky ripping off customers who don’t have access to fibre

[Andy+Wade+58]

I am a sky diamond vip and my broadband contract is at renewal stage. The automated renew system wants me to renew at £42.25 a month for copper as I don't have a fibre connection. I can't have a fibre connection and their fibre customers are being offered full fibre for £24.99. I rang them to see if they would consider a lower price but they won't lower it. I think this is a rip off especially when I have no other options except to change to a company I have never heard of. Please discuss.

[Daniel0210]

@Andy+Wade+58 

I think the £24.99 price you're seeing quoted will be for new customers, which you are not. 

[TimmyBGood]

@Andy+Wade+58 

Sky doesn't own any copper or fibre: like all Openreach ISPs their pricing largely reflects what BT Wholesale charges for access to the national network.

[JimM1]

@Andy+Wade+58 If you have tried to renew, then you know what the prices are like, for all we know you have Broadband and a talk package so prices are reflective, sky will not take your bluff seriously and you are free to go at the end off your 24 months!

[TimmyBGood]

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@Andy+Wade+58 wrote:

 I think this is a rip off especially when I have no other options except to change to a company I have never heard of. 

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If that's an altnet provider then they are laying their own private optical infrastructure using start-up capital.  In the absence of Openreach fibre you aren't going to get FTTP broadband from one of the big ISPs.

[Andy+Wade+58]

I was told by customer service (an oxymoron) that I could have had that price if fibre had been available.

[Andy+Wade+58]

So you are saying that BT/Openreach charge Sky more for copper than fibre when they are the ones that control where they put fibre

[TimmyBGood]

@Andy+Wade+58 

They are actively incentivising customers of all ISPs to switch from copper to fibre by pricing the latter accordingly.  The current phase of the national FTTP rollout (with a target of 80,000 installations a week) is due to continue through to the end of December 2026 by which point 85% of UK properties will be in reach of gigabit connections, but actual take-up rate is lagging a long way behind the spread of the infrastructure.

Note that in this context it's 'BT Wholesale', not 'BT' the ISP in competition with Sky.  BT Wholesale is obliged to offer equal pricing to all Openreach ISPs, none of who are permitted to influence where full fibre is deployed.