Sky + telephone cable query

[Kaz+123]

I have sky plus and broadband but I have a telephone cable running to the box from the telephone point. This was originally put in with my first box over 20 years ago. Can I disconnect it as I presume all updates in this technical world now are done over the hub and WiFi. Any help would be appreciated 

[SKY1992bf]

@Kaz+123  You can disconnect afaik, but you'll lose access to on demand content that's accessed via the internet 

[Annie+UK · Accepted solution]

Telephone requirement was lifted many years ago, ALL updates happen over the satellite dish and don't require the phoneline or broadband

[Annie+UK]

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@SKY1992bf wrote:

@Kaz+123  You can disconnect afaik, but you'll lose access to on demand content that's accessed via the internet 

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They are talking about the sky boxes internal modem and NOT the broadband connection

Removing the phone cable will not affect On Demand if the box is connected to broadband

[SKY1992bf]

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@Annie+UK wrote:

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@SKY1992bf wrote:

@Kaz+123  You can disconnect afaik, but you'll lose access to on demand content that's accessed via the internet 

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They are talking about the sky boxes internal modem and NOT the broadband connection

Removing the phone cable will not affect On Demand if the box is connected to broadband

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@Annie+UK  thanks, I've got the model that doesn't have the modem and only the phone line connection which means without it being connected to the phone I can't connect to the web, hence my reply but I knew there two models 

[TimmyBGood]

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@SKY1992bf wrote:

I've got the model that doesn't have the modem and only the phone line connection which means without it being connected to the phone I can't connect to the web, hence my reply but I knew there two models 

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That's confusing a few different things.

Long before they had ethernet/wifi for broadband (or an option to add such connectivity externally, largely because 'broadband' didn't exist yet) Sky boxes had internal modems, which was the socket that the 'phone line' plugged into.  This offered the subscriber very basic 'interactive' options such as voting on talent shows, and in return for a discounted purchase price* Sky reserved the right to upload telemetry from the box overnight by dialling out to a 'free' number.  These boxes never connected to 'the web': it was a low speed (14.4Kbs from memory) dial-up facility for basic data exchange.

Then for many years boxes had both a legacy internal modem (via the phone socket) and the option to connect to broadband over wifi/ethernet for on-demand access (which could only arrive over broadband, not dial-up)

The last models of Sky+ HD dropped the phone socket/modem to only have ethernet/wifi, and as @Annie+UK observes, Sky also removed the requirement for a subscriber to have some form of outbound connection in order to claim a subsidised installation.

* The contract stipulated that the box had to remain plugged into a phone socket for the first year, as I recall, otherwise Sky reserved the right to charge the full cost of the hardware retrospectively.  I seriously doubt they ever did so.