Sky broadband price disappointment- not worth the hassle switching

Tom0771

Hi- I don’t normally post about stuff, but this is bugging me and the wife. I currently have up to 24Mb broadband for €29.95 per month. I get about 16Mb off the line with a 350GB cap.
Being a Sky TV customer and loving that, I was excited to hear they would be doing broadband as well- everyone’s on about how great it will be, so I registered. I am waiting to be contacted by a rep, but read their website and was disappointed to find out
1-I have to take a sky talk package for €30 even though I use my mobile for phone calls.
2-The broadband that is included for €0 has a 2GB cap!!!! That’s Sky on-demand out the window so!
3-Sky have the right to upgrade me to the next highest package automatically- in other words, add €10 to my bill every month.

All in all, the package is going to cost me €40 per month. God knows what it will cost next year too- I’ve just seen the new TV prices for 2013.

The question I have is- am I missing something? I thought it would be better, but it seems some other operators are better priced.

Kristopherus

TBH, i think Sky have shot themselves in the foot with these offers. Not much there to entice people to transfer from other providers, with the possible exception of Eircom.

keno-daytrader

I wonder if their eyes got too big when they had such a big response to the trial offer, because I cant see droves of people switching with what they are offering, if I wasnt on the trial offer, I certainly wouldnt be enticed to switch.

Melion

I was waiting on this, very disappointed with the prices. Is there any company in Ireland doing JUST broadband? I use my mobile for all calls so have no use for a land line.

pizzahead77

Tom0771 wrote: »

1-I have to take a sky talk package for €30 even though I use my mobile for phone calls.
2-The broadband that is included for €0 has a 2GB cap!!!! That’s Sky on-demand out the window so!
3-Sky have the right to upgrade me to the next highest package automatically- in other words, add €10 to my bill every month.

All in all, the package is going to cost me €40 per month. God knows what it will cost next year too- I’ve just seen the new TV prices for 2013.

The question I have is- am I missing something? I thought it would be better, but it seems some other operators are better priced.

The €30 Sky Talk package includes your Eircom line rental of €25.78

Kristopherus

pizzahead77 wrote: »

The €30 Sky Talk package includes your Eircom line rental of €25.78

But the price they are paying Eircom for line rental is a fiver cheaper. They are making a few bob on that as well.

pizzahead77

Melion wrote: »

I was waiting on this, very disappointed with the prices. Is there any company in Ireland doing JUST broadband? I use my mobile for all calls so have no use for a land line.

Vodafone do "Simply Broadband" for €31.99 per month

Cheerful Spring

Melion wrote: »

I was waiting on this, very disappointed with the prices. Is there any company in Ireland doing JUST broadband? I use my mobile for all calls so have no use for a land line.

Not sure about Fibre, that you need to take up their TV package to have it?

DSL is expensive because of line rental and they see it as you're paying for phone. You probably pay for calls too. Its a scam to con people from their money. Nobody in todays world needs a landline (business and services ok do)

Mobile charge you for usage which is fair enough. There prices tend to match their limits on usage.

celt262

Kristopherus wrote: »

But the price they are paying Eircom for line rental is a fiver cheaper. They are making a few bob on that as well.

That's how business works.

Tom0771

pizzahead77 wrote: »

The €30 Sky Talk package includes your Eircom line rental of €25.78

I know, i figured that thanks, but my combined price of line rental and broadband with my current provider Smart/Digiweb is just €29.95- so beats sky by at least €100 a year. I heard prices of €17.50 etc from Sky, but I guess this was just a very limited trial.

zenno

It's complete greed from sky. I know 4 people already that are getting rid of sky and going to freeview & saorview and a few more that are changing to UPC because of sky's ridiculous charges.

I actually thought that sky broadband when it came in would be a good deal but it's actually atrocious. No sane person would go with sky these days especially if you have UPC. As was said though, their eyes got too big starting this broadband here.

Kenny Logins

I was a little disappointed too, it's only marginally better than my current Vodafone BB with a saving €3 per month. Not worth switching right now IMHO. If they offered it without the phone (€25.78 LR + €10 BB) I'd go for it.

Kristopherus

celt262 wrote: »

That's how business works.

How enlightening. :rolleyes:

And Sky certainly know how to do it and rip-off people in the process.:mad: Nothing market-breaking in these latest offers

logic

I don't think its that bad to be honest. I don't have upc option where I am, so its either eircom, vodafone or sky really. Eircom give me 3mb connection with a 30gb cap for €52.99 a month, vodafone can offer 6mb connection for 31.99 with a 15gb cap or 300gb cap for €48, sky offer 6mb connection with no cap for €40. I do use skys on-demand and HD movies I download would rip through them caps in no time. My line will only go to 6mb so skys offer isn't too bad in my opinion. I don't use a landline either.

lotas

Sorry, i must have missed something here... Your currently paying your currently provider EUR30 a month for broadband, and Sky EUR30 for TV... and you replace your broadband with Sky, and your outgoings become EUR40 a month... saving you EUR20... and you get an "unlimited" download cap... again, did i miss something?

Tom0771

lotas wrote: »

Sorry, i must have missed something here... Your currently paying your currently provider EUR30 a month for broadband, and Sky EUR30 for TV... and you replace your broadband with Sky, and your outgoings become EUR40 a month... saving you EUR20... and you get an "unlimited" download cap... again, did i miss something?

Think you missed most of the post. There's no €20 saving, its over 30% more expensive. Just surprised, thats all. I pay €67per month for sky Tv.

keno-daytrader

lotas wrote: »

Sorry, i must have missed something here... Your currently paying your currently provider EUR30 a month for broadband, and Sky EUR30 for TV... and you replace your broadband with Sky, and your outgoings become EUR40 a month... saving you EUR20... and you get an "unlimited" download cap... again, did i miss something?

Yes your missing the sky tv package charge, the 40 euro you quote is simply for phone and broadband and not the sky satellite package.

redlead

It's a really poor offer from Sky. Only offering broadband to customers who will also get a landline is absolutely ridiculous. Very few modern households need a landline. As a sky tv customer, why on earth can I not get broadband?

This is all the more annoying because I live in an apt complex that can only get sky tv. At least when I had NTL in my old house I could get broadband without line rental and without a stupid landline. I'm stuck with my mobile broadband stick now. What a disappointment!

Kenny Logins

redlead wrote: »

It's a really poor offer from Sky. Only offering broadband to customers who will also get a landline is absolutely ridiculous. Very few modern households need a landline. As a sky tv customer, why on earth can I not get broadband?

This is all the more annoying because I live in an apt complex that can only get sky tv. At least when I had NTL in my old house I could get broadband without line rental and without a stupid landline. I'm stuck with my mobile broadband stick now. What a disappointment!

The broadband is carried on the landline...

the_eman_pablo

Everyone is forgetting that SKY's main priority is T.V!

The BB + Talk is just for the convenience of having 1 direct debit!

The sky hub is also very good at channeling the best line for your broadband without the line dropping or any interference!

SKY was never going to compete with upc for BB! but UPC are never going to compete with SKY for T.V?

if you bundle the most basic Sky T.V package which is 27euro, with the unlimited broadband and freetime package its 67euro? which is cheaper than upc's 69!

enfant terrible

Will they be offering an all in one tv, broadband and phone package like UPC do?

Kristopherus

enfant terrible wrote: »

Will they be offering an all in one tv, broadband and phone package like UPC do?

My guess is that they will have to. I cannot see a mad rush to sign up at those prices, and when Sky see only a trickle of new customers signing up, they won't be long adopting a new scheme to prise customers from Eircom & Voda.

dave1982

Anyone know how much it is for TV phone and broadband?

the_eman_pablo

dave1982 wrote: »

Anyone know how much it is for TV phone and broadband?

67 euro

lotas

keno-daytrader wrote: »

Yes your missing the sky tv package charge, the 40 euro you quote is simply for phone and broadband and not the sky satellite package.

Nope! the 40 includes the TV. I am a sky customer, their site is telling me the standard service is free with my package (HD Pack + Multi room, about EUR55 a month) or a EUR10 for the extended pack...

Kristopherus

lotas wrote: »

Nope! the 40 includes the TV. I am a sky customer, their site is telling me the standard service is free with my package (HD Pack + Multi room, about EUR55 a month) or a EUR10 for the extended pack...

If it is grab it while you can. Could be a misprice a la the Voda iphone one:)

Cryos

lotas wrote: »

Nope! the 40 includes the TV. I am a sky customer, their site is telling me the standard service is free with my package (HD Pack + Multi room, about EUR55 a month) or a EUR10 for the extended pack...

If you add it there youll see it comes up and says you need the base line pack too.

TBH its saved me some money, i had the Vodafone 24meg Call anytime pack + Sky €27 Package.

€59+27 - €86
With sky
€74 with sky, bonus's for me are the international call rates. Id spend an extra 20 a month on calls to the US. It can work out cheaper for some people, it depends on your usage really.

Very poor offering from Sky, I'm already a Sky TV customer and was on the phone to them looking to get the broadband and phone added and got a total monthly price of €97.50, that's for:

Sky Entertainment Extra pack with Multiroom - €50
Sky Broadband Unlimited - €10
Sky Talk Anytime - €37.50

Currently I have the following and will be staying with it:

Sky Entertainment Extra pack with Multiroom - €50
Vodafone At Home Talk Anytime + Ideal BB - €49

So a "massive" :rolleyes: saving of €1.50 a month, but there's no saving to be made really because if I were to go with Sky for everything I would lose out on my 200 Anytime Minutes to 3 nominated VF mobile numbers each month.

Melion

Went with UPC this mornig instead of Sky. 50MB Fibre Power BB with a landline for €44, and as an added bonus its half price for the first 4 months.

Nonoperational

Melion wrote: »

Went with UPC this mornig instead of Sky. 50MB Fibre Power BB with a landline for €44, and as an added bonus its half price for the first 4 months.

That's great, and most people with the choice would go with UPC for broadband. It's a completely different service.

If I could, I'd get Sky TV and UPC broadband. That would be ideal.

Cabaal

redlead wrote: »

It's a really poor offer from Sky. Only offering broadband to customers who will also get a landline is absolutely ridiculous. Very few modern households need a landline. As a sky tv customer, why on earth can I not get broadband?

Sky don't have a choice in this,
DSL requires a PSTN (phone line) line and eircom control the PSTN lines in this country.

If you want DSL then Sky have to pay eircom wholesale for the PSTN line regardless of if you want it or not to make calls, you can't expect them to make a loss on selling the product can you?

People often compare Sky in the UK but thats a pretty unfair comparison as the market and network type is completely different to Ireland.

For starters all the major DSL providers in the UK have established very good coverage with their LLU networks, so they don't have to use BT's DSLAM's for a majority share of their network/customer base.

So for example if a provider like Sky or TalkTalk in the UK provide a customer with a DSL service via BT Wholesale's equipment (ip-stream) then it would cost say 10 GBP to do this (this does not take into account line rental costs).

If on the other hand they provide a customer with DSL using their own LLU equipment then it costs closer to 5 or 6 GBP per line, this is a significant saving to the provider and it really add's up.

It also means they have alot more control for offering services like ADSL 2+ and tweaking things more etc.

Now Sky in Ireland does have access to a LLU network but comparative to the land mass in Ireland its tiny and not very well established, its also not owned by Sky....its owned by BT Business

Previously I've used BT Business for DSL in Ireland and they did offer a ULMP unbundled product which is basically a DSL only line with no phone services, but this service came at a price, it was only available to business customers, t was only on LLU exchanges and it still needed a PSTN line to be installed at the start to provide the DSL service.

This situation is crap but its a situation of this country's making, in particular its down to the fault of Eircom and Comreg.

A cheaper package from Sky would be nice but they only have what they can work with and like any company they must make money off of it, after all it costs more money to employee staff in Dublin then India (Sky after all are employing staff in Dublin for this).

Many providers in the UK offer really cheap prices but they also offer really poor support, its a case of you get what you pay for. The devil is in the detail here!

- So instead of support from Ireland/uk staff you get support from India,
- Instead of Fujitsu exchange equipment and netgear or linksys routers you end up with huawei exchange equipment and huawei routers (I wouldn't want a huawei router if I was given one!)

Don't always think the UK providers are offering a good thing, because while it may look good on paper the service itself can be crap. I can tell you this from experience in the industry in the uk.

Now I'm not saying Sky use crap equipment in the UK and off hand I'm not aware of what exchange equipment Sky use in the UK but I do know they got a very good head start on their LLU and had some very good people involved in its rollout and establishment of it.

Sky were never going after upc, ok they want to stop some bleeding of customer's to upc but they know right well they can't compete with them speed wise.

However Sky can and will have an affect on the other ADSL providers especially eircom who have always in my view overpriced their products.

I'm stuck with my mobile broadband stick now. What a disappointment!

How are you stuck with a Broadband stick?
Get a PSTN line installed and get DSL, unless of course the apartment rules prevent you getting a phone line installed? In which case even if you could get a ULMP unbundled product from Sky you still couldn't get it (see above info).

basemann

What a let down. I thought sky would shake things up. When I check their offer it's actaully MORE expensive than landline unlimited calls and BB with Vodafone.

Sky have 2 BB unlimited products and depending on where you live you might fall into the more expensive 'Sky Connect' which is €20 (€10 more than advertised when you do a line check) so with €30 (talktime) it is €5 more that the €45 Vodafone package with 40 gb d/l limit or €49 with a 60 gb d/l limit.

Also no TV triple packages? They probably expect a rush of biz and then will offer triple services that when initial crowd dries up and those people a re tied to a 12 month contract. A lot of this comes back to Eircom monopoly over the landlines which to me seems to go against all anti- competion laws as Eircom win no matter what. **** you Sky and your empty promises, I feel like dumping the whole lot now and get free to air TV instead.

amdaley28

logic wrote: »

I don't think its that bad to be honest. I don't have upc option where I am, so its either eircom, vodafone or sky really. Eircom give me 3mb connection with a 30gb cap for €52.99 a month, vodafone can offer 6mb connection for 31.99 with a 15gb cap or 300gb cap for €48, sky offer 6mb connection with no cap for €40. I do use skys on-demand and HD movies I download would rip through them caps in no time. My line will only go to 6mb so skys offer isn't too bad in my opinion. I don't use a landline either.

I'm with you on this one.
In December I went over my Vodafone monthly cap of 40Gb (60Gb) & it cost me €20+.
Now I'm with Sky that wont happen.
Its easy to compare Sky with UPC if you can get UPC but a lot of us can't.
I have the same choices as you so its a no brainer for me.

Kenny Logins

amdaley28 wrote: »

I'm with you on this one.
In December I went over my Vodafone monthly cap of 40Gb (60Gb) & it cost me €20+.
Now I'm with Sky that wont happen.
Its easy to compare Sky with UPC if you can get UPC but a lot of us can't.
I have the same choices as you so its a no brainer for me.

You can increase your cap to 70gb for €3 pm.

Kenny Logins

On second thoughts - what the hell am I talking about!? It's €3.99 less per month (that's one month free), no cap, and I get a new router.

Switching now.

Delboy5

As someone in an area that only has a choice of Eircom, Vodafone and now SKY....today i took a look at the Sky offer....

Am i reading it right?

Im currently on the €40 a month pack with vodafone free off peaks calls with up to 8mb speed with download limit 40Gb.

Am i right in saying that €40 a month with Sky will get me the same free off peaks calls but with up to 19.5mb speed and an unlimited download limit........???

silvine

Sky Broadband is aimed at Eircom and Vodafone customers, not UPC's. I read an interview where a Sky spokesperson said as much.

starviewadams

Delboy5 wrote: »

As someone in an area that only has a choice of Eircom, Vodafone and now SKY....today i took a look at the Sky offer....

Am i reading it right?

Im currently on the €40 a month pack with vodafone free off peaks calls with up to 8mb speed with download limit 40Gb.

Am i right in saying that €40 a month with Sky will get me the same free off peaks calls but with up to 19.5mb speed and an unlimited download limit........???

Sky can only provide the dl speed that your phone line is capable of,and that depends on how far you are from your exchange.If your line can support 19.5mb then Sky could offer it,but if Vofafone say the max speed your line is capable of is 8mb or 9mb then Sky can't magically improve your line,as they are using the same Eircom line that Vodafone use.

You'll get the unlimited download cap and free off peak calls though.

dhoun

Delboy5 wrote: »

As someone in an area that only has a choice of Eircom, Vodafone and now SKY....today i took a look at the Sky offer....

Am i reading it right?

Im currently on the €40 a month pack with vodafone free off peaks calls with up to 8mb speed with download limit 40Gb.

Am i right in saying that €40 a month with Sky will get me the same free off peaks calls but with up to 19.5mb speed and an unlimited download limit........???

Yes, you are reading it right. Living in a rural area, I'm paying Eircom just under €63 p/m for so-called 'unlimited' broadband at 24mb (closer to 15mb), line rental and free off peak calls. I reckon I can get the same from Sky for €40 p/m. Seems like a no-brainer where I'm concerned - cannot see myself not changing to Sky!

Cheerful Spring

starviewadams wrote: »

Sky can only provide the dl speed that your phone line is capable of,and that depends on how far you are from your exchange.If your line can support 19.5mb then Sky could offer it,but if Vofafone say the max speed your line is capable of is 8mb or 9mb then Sky can't magically improve your line,as they are using the same Eircom line that Vodafone use.

You'll get the unlimited download cap and free off peak calls though.

Not entirely many phones lines are capable of much higher speeds, but Eircom has not upgraded those local exchanges to ASDL2

Anyone connected to an ASDL1 exchange can't make that jump ( because the technology in use doesn't allow it.

chris2008x

2.9 Mbps estimated speed available on my line. This line can only support 1.6 mbps max. We were with Eircom (€40 I think 10gb) now Vodafone (€19pm for the first 6 months 40gb + €3 30gb add on) so if they can't provide 3mbps then I doubt Sky will be able too unless they can magically move the exchange closer to my house.

It's not a bad offer vs Eircom, some will find it a rip off and others will find it cheaper depends on the customers needs like cheaper international calls or unlimited downloads etc but don't take the estimated speed they claim they can provide to you seriously as they are just reselling the same as what Eircom/Vodafone provide you.

amdaley28

If your line can take 3Mb there is no way you will get 3Mb.
My line is rated at 3Mb.
The most I ever got from either Bt or Vodafone was about 1.8Mb.
I moved to Sky & am getting 2.05 to 2.8Mb & even If I had to pay €47.50 to Sky it would still be better than Vodafone or Eircom.