(UK) Sky broadband

[ỒĊBłůē]

News story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5190710.stm)

A 16 meg connection installed for free, with no caps for £10 a month? :shock:

(If you've got Sky, that is).

Things could be starting to get interesting :naughty:

[fillip]

Bollocks!! We just took out a sub' with Tiscali last week, and I'm about to order Sky this week. :duh:

[furious trout]

Bollocks!! We just took out a sub' with Tiscali last week, and I'm about to order Sky this week. :duh:
cooling off period on the tiscali connection?

[fillip]

cooling off period on the tiscali connection?

14 days, hopefully from delivery since they say it takes upto 10 working days to deliver. I'll have a word with the old man tonight.
Tbh, I think we'll stick with what we have, because I hope to move out around Xmas time, taking Sky with me since it'll be in my name. I can always take out Sky BB in any new place I go to, and then the old man isn't left without BB aswell as Sky. It doesn't look to be available just yet though, so I've signed up for notifications as and when it is available.

[ỒĊBłůē]

No; it'll be a while as Sky have to poke equipment into local exchanges.

It's good to have someone with seemingly limitless funds jumping onboard though.

That said, the subscription price will prolly creep up £1.50 every 6 months, and you'll also have to pay for multiroom :lol:

[fillip]

That said, the subscription price will prolly creep up £1.50 every 6 months, and you'll also have to pay for multiroom :lol:

:lol: LOL!

Hopefully customer service wont be as bad as it is for Sky tv either. A mate of mine used to be charged for random films on PPV, even when he was on holiday.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Base - 2Mb download speed, £40 connection fee, £50 installation, free subscription, 2GB monthly limit
Mid - 8Mb, £20 connection, £50 installation, £5 monthly subscription, 40GB usage
Max- 16Mb, free installation and connection, £10 monthly subscription, unlimited usage
Connect - 8Mb, £40 connection, £50 installation, £17 a month, 40GB usage

That doesnt make sense! The mid range works out more expensive then the Max package? It looks very interesting though as i already have sky and pay about £25 a month for my ADSL.

[cobalt6700]

hmmm,

sounds good. i cant remember how long the tiscali contract is? (cos we signed up 2 months ago)

[fillip]

That doesnt make sense! The mid range works out more expensive then the Max package? It looks very interesting though as i already have sky and pay about £25 a month for my ADSL.

I have a feeling the mid-range option is available to non-Sky customers whereas the Max package is only available to current Sky subscribers.

[fivecheebs]

Well! Wouldnt you know it i got a letter through the post today from sky.

We are currently rolling out a state-of-the-art network across the country and we are delighted that your area will be among the first to be able to receive Sky Broadband

As it stands, i could upgrade my sky package to get the movies channels, take out the 16mb service (as if i'd be able to get 16mb! pah), and still save a tenner a month. Tempting no?

[Reitau]

My current staff deal with AOL (£18PCM Unlimited 8MB) seems expensive now!

Reading in to the ads in the press though... is Sky Talk mandatory? If it is then that may explain some of the pricing - if I were not selling my house I would go for it, and where ever I end up I will probably have Sky+ as it will be a shared place too.

[fivecheebs]

Nope, the letter states that Sky Talk is optional. :D

Ive registered interest, lets see what happens.

[cobalt6700]

would you not get some rather bad lag off of sky broadband though?

[fivecheebs]

Why? Its ADSL just like my current ISP, it isnt a satellite service.

The registration email was waiting for me this morning when i got to work. They say they will contact me again in early August.

I hope i dont regret this :lol: Ive been with my current ISP since 2000 and in the main they have been pretty good, there have been a few problems over the last few months though.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

I got the letter too unfortunatly it wont be available in my area until next year.

[Knipex]

I got a letter saying that they did not know when it would be available in Ireland and to make up for it they would know €70 off the price of a sky plus box. I allready have a bloody sky+ box.

[fivecheebs]

Update....

Here is an email i received from them while i was off.

Thank you for registering your interest in Sky Broadband. When the Sky Broadband network reaches your area you will have the choice of three great options:

Base (up to 2Mb) with FREE subscription - great for easy browsing, emailing and sharing photos

Mid (up to 8Mb) for only £5 a month - ideal if you wish to do more with broadband, like downloading music or short video clips

Max (up to 16Mb) which gives you unlimited downloading of everything from movies, sports clips and games for the ultimate broadband experience - for only £10 a month and includes FREE home installation option and FREE connection


Available in the next few weeks

We have had extremely high demand for Sky Broadband, however, we hope that we will be able to deliver it to you in the next few weeks

We’ll be in touch in 2 weeks time to keep you regularly informed of our progress in your area. Simply keep an eye out for emails from us.

We’re sorry we can’t get Sky Broadband to you any sooner but we’re sure you’ll be delighted once it is installed.

Regards

Brian Sullivan
Director of Product Strategy & Management


*Subject to Fair Usage Policy. Subject to area availability, compatibility and survey. Maximum Upload speeds: Base – 400Kb; Mid – 400Kb; Max – 768Kb; Connect – 448Kb. Sky Broadband is only available to active Sky TV subscribers. Minimum Sky Broadband subscription 12 months. Connection fee: Base - £40; Mid - £20; Max – free. Monthly Usage: Base: 2Gb; Mid – 40Gb; Max – Unlimited, subject to Fair Usage Policy. Installation: Free if you subscribe to Sky Broadband Max, otherwise £50. Prices subject to change. Eligibility and other terms apply. Information only applies to residential customers. Information correct at 1st August 2006. ** Sky Talk:** UK call rates do not include calls to mobiles, the Channel Islands, non-geographic and premium rate numbers e.g., those starting with 08, 09 and 118. "Unlimited" calls last up to an hour after which 0.8p per minute rates apply or you can hang up and re-dial as often as you like. Sky Talk is only available to Sky digital subscribers. Not available to BT Light Users or if outgoing calls are barred. Calls to emergency numbers, BT Operator Services and some internet calls are provided by BT. Further terms apply.Any member of the British Sky Broadcasting group may use and share the information you provide to it and information about your account with other companies in the group including for market research and the marketing of Sky's products and services. This may include sending you marketing by email or SMS about our similar products and services (unless you advise us of your preference not to receive such marketing). For your convenience you can withdraw consent by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in e-mails from us or by contacting Sky customer services on 08702 40 40 40 (if you are in the UK) or 0818 719 819 (if you are in the Republic of Ireland).


Copyright 2006 BSkyB

hehe... wonder if they can do me for copyright infringement!

[Fibbles]

How the hell is it so cheap and w/out any price for setup?

[fivecheebs]

BSB is huge and has an awful lot of money behind them. I guess this is a loss leader (at least for a while) in some respect to gain a large market share.

[fillip]

BSB is huge and has an awful lot of money behind them. I guess this is a loss leader (at least for a while) in some respect to gain a large market share.

And you have to be a Sky subscriber in the first place, so they're already draining cash out of you before you take up BB.

[furious trout]

And you have to be a Sky subscriber in the first place, so they're already draining cash out of you before you take up BB.

:nods: yip it's just another way of murdoch sucking you into his evil empire.
I'd be highly sceptical that they have anything like the infrastructure to support the number of people who'll jump onto this.....

[fillip]

I'd be highly sceptical that they have anything like the infrastructure to support the number of people who'll jump onto this.....

That's the worry really isn't it. They have the money to install it if they needed too, but I get the distinct impression that they're just going to 'piggy-back' on BT's infrastructure - which ofcourse means they'll play second fiddle to BT's own customers in terms of bandwidth allowance
and response times.

[fivecheebs]

I didn't think BTs infrastructure allowed the speeds they offer. I was guessing that this was a LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) product and as such sky would have thier own equipment in the BT exchanges, much like bulldog for example. I could be wrong and this certainly warrants some more homework on my part. Time to see what adslguide.org.uk think about the whole sky offering. I do have quite an important question i need to get answered still, and thats to do with fixed IPs. Currently i have a "sticky" IP, and i love it. Its not changed (for very long) for 5 years, and im not sure i want to go back...

I'd be lying if i said i wasn't worried about the quality of service, at least for the first 1 or 2 quarters. I might end up cursing this comment, but i have to take the opertunity to save the money, its just too cheap to pass up as it could save us about £240 a year.

[furious trout]

I think cheebs is right , they certainly mentioned putting kit into BT exchanges...all I know is Bulldog don't appear to be terribly reliable, and
I'm exceedingly dubious at anyone being able to scale as quickly as Sky will have to at those prices and stay reliable :shrug: just my £0.02

[fivecheebs]

Early indications from my homework definitely points to LLU products, except for thier "connect" package which is meant for users that don't have an enabled exchange.

I found this posted on adslguide about BSkyB's possible capital expenditure. I dont know how accurate it is but its some serious investment in the long run...


They are looking at a projected take up of 30% of their customer base not the full 8m and of course a substantial percentage of those will not be "free". As to staff numbers Sky will introduce 1,500 new support staff, and as far as to where the money is coming from, see below.

Capital Expenditure
2 Year Capex Outlook
(2006/7 + 2007/8)

• Unbundling exchanges
– c1,200 total exchanges by December 2007
– Average of £40,000 per exchange for installation of racks, power supply and backhaul
£35 million

• Network investment
– Additional capacity to satisfy growing customer bandwidth demand
£55 million

• Customer Service
– Integrated online fulfillment system
– New products and services
£40 million

Subtotal: £130 million

• Variable Capex

– £50 per customer for line card, DSLAM chassis and installation
– Unbundled telephony subscribers require additional cost of £25
c£120 million

Total: £250 million

This isn't Rupert & son being altruistic (or taking a punt) by the way as the whole thing has been costed to be:

– EPS enhancing in 2010
– The contribution payback per subscriber will be completed in between 10 and 35 months
and there will be a 15% return on incremental capital employed in 2011 (including the £211m paid for easynet)

....still looking....

[fivecheebs]

Just had an email from them....


Thank you for registering your interest in Sky Broadband. You have the choice of three great options:

Base (up to 2Mb) with FREE subscription - great for easy browsing, emailing and sharing photos

Mid (up to 8Mb) for only £5 a month - ideal if you wish to do more with broadband, like downloading music or short video clips

Max (up to 16Mb) which gives you unlimited downloading of everything from movies, sports clips and games for the ultimate broadband experience - for only £10 a month including FREE connection.

And there's also a great value home installation service to help you get started, which is FREE if you take Max.

Great value extras
Sky Broadband comes with some great value extras, too. There’s a FREE Sky Broadband box which can give you wire-free connection around your home, so no more wires trailing about the house. If you are a PC user you will also get McAfee® Internet Security Suite, worth £49.98, FREE for a year, or if you are a MAC user you will get a year’s free Virex worth £29.99. And 5 sky.com email addresses, that are accessible from anywhere in the world. And although Sky broadband is easy to install yourself, there is also an option for a professional home installation, which is FREE if you take Max.

Order Sky Broadband now
To get Sky Broadband as soon as possible, place your order today. Simply call us on 08705 515515 quoting the special code below. This code lets you buy Sky Broadband and is only valid for the next 21 days. Unfortunately, because demand for Sky Broadband is very high we can only make your code available for two weeks from the date of this email.

TO BUY, CALL 08705 515515 AND QUOTE "mumlove"

Already got Broadband?
Switching is easy. If you already have broadband with another Internet Service Provider, you can still switch to Sky Broadband. All you need to do is contact your supplier and ask for a ‘MAC code’, then quote it when you order Sky Broadband. We will then switch you over.

Talk loads - unlimited UK landline calls for just £5 per month

As a Sky TV customer, you can get Sky Talk which offers you unlimited UK** landline calls, anytime, day or night for just £5 a month Just pay Sky for your monthly Sky Talk fee and BT for your line rental. You'll also save 5% on calls to mobiles and international calls when compared to BT Together Option 1. However, you don't need broadband to get Sky Talk.

Hurry!
You are already first in the queue, which is why you can buy today, but hurry your special code runs out soon. Place your order today and then you can look forward to enjoying the experience of Sky Broadband as soon as possible.

I called them up, had to hold for ages! They wont / cant offer me a static IP, and have no plans on offering such service either... bummer. Also the expected speed for my line will be 1.5mb (she actually said 1.5 "kay" ... lol better not be). which is not much better than my current package. I still havent found the fair use policy that relates to the "unlimited" package.

Desicion time... is it worth saving £20 a month (£10 after ordering sky+ and the movie channels) but having to loose my current IP..... Does anyone know of a but of software that will broadcast your IP to some web space in case of reconnects?