Sky customers grumble over broadband

Julia Day
Friday September 15, 2006
MediaGuardian.co.uk


BSkyB's newly launched broadband internet service is causing consternation among some customers who have encountered a variety of glitches.
Complaints range from customers who registered weeks ago and have still heard nothing, to those who are connected to the "Max" 16Mb speed package but have a very slow service, and others whose broadband boxes have died after just a few days' use.

Hundreds of disgruntled customers have taken to posting their complaints on internet user websites, such as Digital Spy and Sky User, and have been joined by people who claim to be Sky customer services staff posting anonymously.


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One Sky User forum member, "unregistered ex-BT", wrote: "To anyone thinking of moving to Sky. Read the threads on here and the internet and DON'T BOTHER. They haven't got a clue what's going on and as of now I'm a paid Sky TV member and Sky broadband member and I have no broadband and no answers.
"So if you want no broadband, pathetic support, snail like investigations into it all, different answers from all the call centre workers, lies, long phone calls ... then hey, join Sky. But if you think your current service from your ISP is acceptable then stay where you are because Sky are absolutely useless."

A Digital Spy forum user, "sqareeyes", said: "FYI, there is a major problem with the hardware SKY have installed at the exchanges. This information came from a SKY rep who admitted this to my son who has been trying for weeks to get his SKY broadband connection working. He could not confirm when this will be fixed, but it will be weeks or possibly months before they do anything about it ... My advice to anyone who is thinking of getting SKY broadband and hasn't done so yet is WAIT!"

Another Digital Spy user, "Anonymouse91", complained: "Just got connected but have got really slow speeds. I'm signed up to the Max package which is 16Mb but the router is connected to Sky at around 7Mb and a speed test reports it is around 2-4Mb."

One user, whose broadband box failed entirely less than two weeks after installation, was told by the helpline that another box would be sent, and that there had been many calls of a similar nature.

Many Sky customers are complaining about poor customer service, much slower internet connections speeds than advertised and mix-ups in getting broadband activated via BT phone lines, with BT and Sky both blaming each other.

Sky launched its broadband service this month for customers who are already signed up to its television service.

Customers could register their interest ahead of the launch in one of three broadband packages - free 2Mb speed/2Gb usage cap; 5 a month 8Mb/40GB cap; and 10 a month 16Mb/unlimited usage.

Earlier this week Sky suspended its film download service and blocked access to some broadband sports clips because of a software security breach, while it waits for Microsoft to upgrade its protection against the hacking software FairUse4WM, which allows users to pirate content.

Almost three-quarters of the UK's internet users are on high-speed broadband connections, according to a recent study by the Office for National Statistics. The country has 10m households using broadband, outstripping the number of old-fashioned dial-up connections by three to one.

A Sky spokesman said: "We launched Sky Broadband to give great value, fast speeds and innovative features to Sky customers. Thousands of customers are already up and running.

"At this early stage, we're listening closely to feedback and continually refining service and operations as we do in all areas of our business.

"We think Sky Broadband will grow to become enjoyed by millions of people and we thank customers for comments and recommendations that help us to create an exciting broadband experience."

To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 7239 9857

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StockMarketWire.com
Sky (SKY) has hiked its FY pretax profit by 48% to £1.52bn on revenue up 34% to £9.99bn. FY dividend was 32.8p, up 3%.

CEO Jeremy Darrochcommented:
"The past 12 months have been an outstanding period of growth for Sky. We've successfully completed a deal that has transformed the size and scale of opportunity for the business whilst delivering an excellent financial and operational performance as more customers chose Sky and took more of our products.

"It's clear that the steps we have taken to broaden out our business are paying off. By distributing our content over multiple platforms and launching new products and services, we are now able to offer something for every household.

"The strength of the customer response is evident in our results: across the group, we added almost one million new customers over the year, 45% more than the prior year. Our operating momentum delivered a 5% increase in revenues which combined with a relentless focus on costs to achieve an 18% increase in operating profit. This was an excellent performance in a year of such change for the business.

"The UK and Ireland, where our strategy is most progressed, put in a particularly strong performance. We passed the 12-million customer milestone with the highest growth in 11 years; we surpassed 38 million paid-for subscription products; and we delivered the lowest churn in 11 years. This is the direct result of the investments we've made in connected services and quality content with more than 7 million customers now connected.

"Germany and Italy also posted strong performances. Germany delivered its highest-ever customer growth, while Italy maintained its subscriber base in a tough market. Both businesses also achieved significantly increased customer loyalty, thanks to continued investment in the customer experience.

"This has been a big year on screen. Across the portfolio, we've secured a series of big rights deals and made exciting progress in our push into original content. Crime drama Fortitude and Italian political drama 1992 became the first of our home-grown dramas to launch simultaneously across all five territories and there's much to look forward to. We're taking another step up in 2016 with a string of new commissioned dramas, including crime drama, The Last Panthers, coming this autumn, and The Young Pope, a major new co-production with HBO and Canal+. Both show the scale of our ambition as we build a new European powerhouse for TV content.

"Looking ahead, we see an expanded opportunity for growth by serving the market broadly with multiple products and services. The investments we have made have given us a strong platform on which to build and we have a clear set of plans to deliver long-term growth and returns for our shareholders."

Highlights included:
Excellent financial performance
· 5% increase in group revenue to £11,283 million

· 18% increase in operating profit to £1,400 million

· 3% increase in full year dividend per share

Growing customer demand and loyalty
· 973,000 new customer additions, 45% more than prior year

· 4.6 million new paid-for subscription products

· Stand-out performance on churn: under 10% in each market

Strong performance across all five territories
· Highest organic customer growth for 11 years in UK and Ireland to pass 12-million milestone

· Highest-ever customer growth in Germany and Austria

· Italy held customer base stable after three years of negative growth

Building for the future

· Growing momentum in entertainment: 35 original dramas planned in the next three years

· Scaling new businesses: revenues from Sky Store, AdSmart and Sky Vision up 122%

· Good progress with bringing the three Skys together: integration working well

StockMarketWire.com
Sky has made a strong start to year in Q1 with a 6% rise in group revenue to GBP2.8bn, and a 10% rise in operating profit to GBP375m.

In the UK and Ireland, Sky's investments in content and connected services helped to deliver customer growth of 77,000, up over 50% year on year and the highest rate of Q1 customer growth for four years.

"We also added 759,000 paid-for products, including 43,000 new TV additions and 133,000 new broadband additions, growth of 77% year on year. Churn of 9.8% was down 110 basis points year on year, our lowest Q1 level for 11 years," the company said.

"Revenue was up 7% to £2,003 million (2015: £1,869 million) which drove a 20% increase in profit to £358 million (2015: £299 million) helped by our strong focus on costs.

"In Germany and Austria, we added 94,000 new customers. Total product growth was 236,000, including another strong quarter of Sky Premium HD, and churn was down 40 basis points year on year to 9.0%, aided by the impact of 24-month contracts.

Revenue was up 11% to £336 million (2015: £304 million) whilst we recorded a loss of £8 million (2015: profit of £8 million) as the result of increased Bundesliga and Champions League costs and the change in amortisation profile.

"Italy delivered a resilient performance against a challenging economic backdrop, and the loss of the Champions League rights on a platform that is more sports-focused.

"In the quarter, we had a loss of 37,000 customers with products down 58,000, largely driven by a one-time increase in HD subscribers in the prior year as we unbundled the HD product.

"We saw another good performance on churn which remained at 10.0%. Revenue was down 4% to £454 million (2015: £474 million) largely due to lower customer numbers, although down only 3% on an underlying basis excluding the impact of the discontinuation of programme sales to Mediaset Premium and advertising revenues from the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Profit was down £8 million year on year to £25 million (2015: £33 million)."

CEO Jeremy Darroch said:
"We have made a strong start to the year with customers responding well to the quality and breadth of our content, products and services.

"As we continue to place customers right at the heart of our business, we are focused on offering the very best content at the same time as anticipating customers' evolving needs, delivering the programmes that they love across multiple platforms and devices.

"This approach has delivered an excellent financial performance in the quarter, with further broad-based revenue growth of 6%, translating into a 10% increase in operating profit.

"This performance was driven by strong demand across the group. We added over 130,000 new customers in the quarter, up 7% on the previous year, which means that we've added almost a million new customers over the past twelve months, up 51% year on year.

"Our total product base now exceeds 54 million, and within this, broadband growth in the UK had a stand-out performance this quarter, up 77% year on year.

"Our investments in content are driving a great performance on screen, with highlights this quarter including record viewing of Sky Atlantic in the UK, of the Bundesliga in Germany and the X Factor in Italy. We are building scale in our own world class original content, as well as securing key rights including multi-year deals with Disney and SANZAR southern hemisphere rugby.

"We want to make the viewing experience even better for all our customers. Following the success of our proven connected home strategy in the UK and Ireland, we are beginning to roll this out across our other territories.

"We now have almost 10 million connected households across the group, driving over 750 million views to our connected services this quarter alone.

"As these results show, we are delivering against a clear set of plans across Europe, and are well positioned for the growth opportunities ahead."

Other highlights included:
Strong customer demand and loyalty across the group

· 134,000 new customer additions

· 937,000 new paid-for subscription products, with 133,000 new broadband subscribers in the UK

· Strong churn performance across all territories

Strengthening leadership in content and innovation

· Taking Sky's original drama to the next level: The Last Panthers to launch across the group

· Securing the best content: multi-year agreements with Disney and SANZAR rugby

· Driving connected services: over 750 million views across 9.6 million connected households

On watchlist looks cheap, could get cheaper.

StockMarketWire.com
Sky has invested $1m in The Drone Racing League (DRL), and has agreed to a distribution deal that will see the thrilling world of elite drone racing come to the newly launched Sky Sports Mix channel.

DRL is the global leader of First Person View (FPV) drone racing, which features elite pilots each flying a custom designed, hand built and identical drone, through complex, thematic, three-dimensional racecourses that have been compared to a real life video game.

The DRL media team creates and continues to innovate a custom-designed broadcast and race infrastructure to capture the fast, close proximity racing.

In addition to Sky's investment, Sky Sports has completed a distribution partnership with DRL to bring live events and broadcast content to the UK and Ireland. Airing as ten, one-hour episodes, the 2016 DRL season covers five races including a winner-take-all world championship to crown the best drone pilot.

The broadcasts will air from this October on the newly launched Sky Sports Mix channel. Sky Sports Mix will provide an introduction to the sport for millions of Sky customers at no extra cost, with live sports every day.

Sky Sports and DRL will also team up with London & Partners to bring an official DRL race, the first professional drone race in the UK, to an iconic venue in London.

Fox to bid for Sky this week via scheme of arrangement: sources

Comcast challenges Murdoch with $31 billion offer to buy Sky

Liberum Capital today upgrades its investment rating on Sky Plc (LON:SKY) to buy (from hold) and raised its price target to 1250p (from 970p).