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UK Broadcaster Sky To Launch Mobile Service

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-in-one dept.

An anonymous reader sends word that British pay-TV company Sky will launch mobile services next year. UK pay-TV firm Sky is launching a mobile phone service next year in partnership with O2's Spanish parent Telefonica. Sky will use Telefonica UK's wireless network, enabling the satellite broadcaster to offer mobile voice and data services for the first time. It takes Sky into the battle for "quad play", adding mobile to its existing services of internet, landline and TV. Offering all four services is seen as the next big UK growth area for telecoms firms and broadcasters.

17 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. It is an attempt to lock in customers by luvirini · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Basically it is the same as with many other businesses, they will try to leverage their customer relationships to include more areas(so they get more money from the same customer)

    Luckily at least currently the competition in the UK market seems to work fairly well so you still have the competition and choice,

    There have been some worrying signs of lesser number of providers lately though so the question is how long will the good situation last.

    1. Re:It is an attempt to lock in customers by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1

      If the "lock in" is worth it, why not?

      I'm a Sky customer, I get my home phone package (unlimited calls, any time), internet (50Mbps fibre, no cap, no quota, no limit), and TV package (HD, movies, tonnes of entertainment channels, F1 etc) for roughly £75 a month - and my opinion is that its worth paying that for the service I get.

      Skys video on demand service is brilliant, and I get access to it on my PC and mobile devices as well.

      I've experienced Virgin Media (had it for a couple of years after I moved to this city) and Sky is simply better imho. When I wanted to move home, Virgin wanted a load of money to move the contract, and I had to sign up for a new contract at the new location. Sky however just said "yup, no issues, your phone and internet will be activated on this date, your TV will just work, no cost to move, and no new contract", which is great because Im only in the new place for 6 months until my property is built.

      I'm currently on a business contract with EE for my mobile service, but I will be watching Skys offering with interest.

    2. Re:It is an attempt to lock in customers by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 1

      That's actually pretty good. I was paying half that for a BT line and Be ADSL Internet (who I think got bought by Sky anyway).

      An extra £30 for Internet five times faster than my ADSL and a TV package.. assuming adding mobile doesnt increase the price that much, I'm in!!

      --
      The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
    3. Re:It is an attempt to lock in customers by hughbar · · Score: 1

      Also, you're supporting the Murdoch empire, including the Sun etc. etc. As for the rest, 'quad play' and 'bundles' used to be called bundling in the computer industry and several large lawsuits [somewhat] abolished it. When everything comes from one supplier, they give you the service they want at a price that they want.

      --
      On y va, qui mal y pense!
    4. Re:It is an attempt to lock in customers by DrKludge · · Score: 1

      I couldn't get my MAC (a porting code for those of you not familiar, allowing you easy transfer of your line to another ISP and/or phone provider) fast enough and went for a business-ish-class LLU service through a small independent company at the same line speed and same price; no filters, 12ms round-trip latency to continental europe (germany specifically), static IP, zone control, no quotas, no traffic shaping, no insistence that I run the terrible Sky-approved router, no restrictions at all on what you're allowed to do with your pipe as long as it's not illegal. Everyone else I know on BeThere did the same thing since none of them used Sky TV either and didn't take kindly for being punished for not giving Sky enough money.

      In summary: if you don't watch satellite TV (or merely think it's overpriced), the Sky bundles are, IMHO, horrendously overpriced.

      Who did you switch to? Be used to a lot the third party unbundling?

  2. Yo dawg, I heard you like to watch video wherever! by SeaFox · · Score: 1

    So we took your favorite TV provider, and made them an MVNO, too!
    With a heavy hitter-partner we'll keep your 4G video streaming quality high, while your bill is on the down-low.
    So now you can watch Sky on Sky, as it comes to you through the sky!

  3. Uhm by Chrisq · · Score: 1

    Sky will use Telefonica UK's wireless network

    Really, the one they're about to sell to Hutchinson (owners of '3'')?

  4. Offtopic but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...anyone else notice the increased font size of titles and more padding in certain areas?

    1. Re:Offtopic but... by danknight48 · · Score: 1

      It's the gradual infiltration of beta.

      And/Or (regarding the massive header font size on main page)
      - The invasion of a semi-blind website designer.
      - The website designer had to use a 22" monitor today.
      - The website designer had Chrome set to 25% zoom in testing and didn't realise.

      And/Or (regarding the double paragraphs header under "You may like to read")
      - The Website maintainer's Enter key is broken and commits two clicks instead of one

  5. Decent news by abigsmurf · · Score: 2

    Given the number of mobile providers in the UK has been shrinking fairly dramatically recently, having another big player with big pockets and likely aggressive pricing enter the market is a good thing.

    1. Re:Decent news by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      Given the number of mobile providers in the UK has been shrinking fairly dramatically recently, having another big player with big pockets and likely aggressive pricing enter the market is a good thing.

      Yes its good - but the main concern is the reducing number of networks. Charges to both MVNOs and individuals could increase with reduced competition in this area

  6. Re:sound like a great middleman by Chrisq · · Score: 1

    but if its on O2 network, i might as well go direct, why would i use a 3rd party who owns no infrastructure at all ? what am i paying for ?

    They may have different packages which suit you better. I use giffgaff, which runs on O2 and has web only support but is a bit cheaper tahn going to O2 direct.

  7. Erm.. If Telefonica is selling.... by Pax681 · · Score: 1
    It's O2 business and network to Hutchinson whampoa(Three mobile) then how the fook are they gonna do this deal with Sky?

    Three owner agrees to buy O2 for £10.25 billion

    http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/th...
    I am aware that the competition commission bods will want assurances as they did when Three bought out O2's Irish business however........ it seems to me that perhaps Sky is betting on Three ... as when three and O2 merge it'll be the biggest cell phone service provider here.. as i doubt the sky deal will do anything with the 50 billion hole Telefonica finds itself with O2

  8. Kind of makes sense, really .... by DrKludge · · Score: 1

    Be used to run O2's Service.

    http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/may/04/sky-o2-broadband-deal-transfer

    I'm a Sky customer. Their customer service has been pretty good compared to some of the competitors I have had to deal with. Virgin. BT. TalkTalk. All crap. BT (Openreach) and Virgin own most of the fibre in the country.

    Sky's customer service is still not as good as Telus' or Shaw Cable's from when I used live in Vancouver.

    1. Re:Kind of makes sense, really .... by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      Why would you need customer service if the product was being provided as agreed when you signed up?

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
  9. SkyNet is here! by DeathByLlama · · Score: 1

    Hide your kids, hide your wives. And hide your husbands, too.

  10. Re:sound like a great middleman by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

    In the US I use Virgin Mobile. Their plan suits me fine and is cheaper than a similar plant from Sprint. $30 as opposed to $50 something. The weird thing? Virgin uses Sprint's network. I don't know how this makes sense, but it works for me.

    --
    http://www.acetonestudio.com