Sky Broadband UK to Sell Openreach G.fast and FTTP Broadband
Sky Broadband has done a new wholesale deal with Openreach (BT) to sell the operator’s range of “ultrafast broadband” (G.fast and FTTP) services on to UK customers, which will come at a hefty price discount of up to 40%. Sky now hope to double their customer base.
Over the past year we’ve remarked a few times that Sky Broadband’s strategy in the UK has appeared to be at a standstill, while many of their competitors have moved to build their own “full fibre” (FTTP/H) networks. Part of this has been due to the on-going bidding war for ownership of Sky plc by Comcast and Fox / Disney, which has yet to be officially resolved.
The fact that Sky’s CEO effectively ruled the company out of building their own Gigabit capable FTTP broadband network in 2016 has also set a certain tone (here), albeit an unusual one for what is still the United Kingdom’s second largest broadband ISP (c.6.2 million customers with c.60% still on their unbundled ADSL2+ lines and the rest taking superfast FTTC / VDSL2 via Openreach).
The good news is that Sky has finally made a decision on their immediate future and it involves throwing their support behind Openreach’s national infrastructure, as opposed to building away from it. The deal will involve a wholesale price reduction, which appears to be based off the new volume discount scheme that was launched in July 2018 (here).
We should point out that Openreach’s discount scheme is available to all ISPs – including small providers – that can grow their “fibre broadband” customer base on Openreach’s superfast or ultrafast network by an agreed proportion over a 3 or 5 year period.
According to The Telegraph, Sky are aiming to double their broadband base, but this may be wishful thinking in such a difficult market for traditional customer growth (Sky’s own broadband base has struggled to grow for the past year or so).
One other challenge in all this is the fact that Openreach’s 330Mbps capable hybrid fibre G.fast network and their 1000Mbps full fibre FTTP service are still in their infancy. BTGroup reported last month (here) that G.fast has so far covered 1,117,000 premises, while their FTTP rollout had reached 631,000 premises.
Openreach’s current plan envisages G.fast reaching coverage of about 5.7 million premises and FTTP delivering to 3 million premises by 2020, although their full fibre network should eventually reach 10 million by around 2025 if everything goes as planned. Under this strategy Openreach will definitely have the largest FTTP network in the UK and so Sky’s move makes sense.
On the other hand the issue of price could prove to be a headache for Sky, even with the proposed discounts. Many of their rivals are now building alternative FTTP networks and some of those are already offering or planning to offer related services at an aggressively reduced price point (e.g. we expect Vodafone / Cityfibre to do this and Hyperoptic already do the same). Matching this on Openreach’s network would be difficult.
The newspaper article further hints that Sky may not pass the wholesale discounts on to customers due to marketing spend and the extra investment needed to support new network capacity / support systems, which may further weaken their ability to challenge. The key advantage they have though is that Openreach has the scale to build faster, much faster, than their rivals.
This might not quite be the co-funding arrangement that Openreach was hoping for but having the country’s second largest broadband ISP put some weight behind their FTTP/G.fast solutions is still an important development. The race is on and we now await details on the first Sky Ultrafast Broadband packages, which we already know will be supported by a new wireless router.
Source isppreview
Latest Jobs
-
- VOIP / SIP App Developer. Contract. SIP | VOIP experience needed. SC Cleared Outside IR35 Contract. London
- London
- OUTSIDE IR35
-
SIP | VOIP Developer. SC Cleared Contract. London Looking for a SC Cleared SIP / VOIP Developer to develop an application that interacts with a set of voice and video signalling API’s You will also work on developing in-house applications, browser plugins and automated tooling to support secure communication systems. Responsibilities Develop an application that will manage number mapping and associated identities using commercial SBC API’s. Develop new user-facing features using React.js or other modern JavaScript frameworks. Build reusable components and front-end libraries for future use. Collaborate with the design team to translate UI/UX design wireframes into code. Work closely with backend developers to integrate front-end code with server-side logic. Conduct code reviews and provide constructive feedback to team members. Stay up-to-date on emerging technologies and industry trends to continuously improve our front-end development practices. Troubleshoot and debug issues that arise during development and in production environments. Maintain high coding standards and practices and ensure code is well-documented. Requirement Experience of developing specialist applications using REST API’s. Good knowledge of Go, Java and Python (open to alternative combinations of languages). Proficiency in front-end languages and frameworks such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React.js, etc. Strong understanding of web standards, responsive design, and cross-browser compatibility. Experience with version control systems such as Git. Knowledge of RESTful APIs and asynchronous request handling. Familiarity with UI/UX design principles and tools.
-
- Senior Data Privacy Consultant. Client Facing | London
- London
- N/A
-
Senior Data Privacy Consultant. Client Facing | London Senior Data Privacy Consultant needed for a key client facing opportunity. Must be willing to undergo SC Security Clearance. Hybrid role- onsite with customer / office 2-3 days a week. London Key Responsibilities: Lead and support client facing data privacy projects. Assess compliance, define and deliver strategic projects / implement privacy solutions. Manage project teams and develop business opportunities. Required Experience: Experience in data protection and privacy standards. Background in consulting. Skills and Qualifications: Business consulting experience IAPP Privacy Manager / Privacy Technologist Location Greater London UK based role. Not able to provide VISA sponsorship.
-
- Security Analyst - Internal role. London commutable. Permanent
- London
- N/A
-
Security Analyst - Internal role. London commutable opportunity. Operational Security - Investigate, escalate and proactively work to ensure household name remains protected. Project Security - Coordinate, log change requests with project delivery teams to meet security requirements Policy / compliance - work with team to aid in uplifting these as and where needed This role is role to investigate, escalate and proactively work to protect a globally recognised brand. You must have current hands on operational analytical security experience with Microsoft technology stack Someone with a SOC Analyst / security engineering background would be well suited. This position will join a small team and would suit someone that has broad experience across the security threat landscape. Experience / knowledge across industry GRC standards such NIST, ISO27001 etc very advantageous and a priority. You will work across multiple teams proactively working to secure the business. Must be able to commute to Central London 3 days a week. Visa sponsorship not available Apply today to find out more.
-
- Network / Security Infrastructure Engineer | West London | Permanent
- London
- N/A
-
Network / Security Infrastructure Engineer | West London | Current Config, Install, upgrade experience On prem / Datacetner experience essential. Hands on experience MUST include: Routing, Switching, Network Security (firewall, IDS etc), Microsoft exchange / Exchange 365. Scripting / automation experience wanted. Python, Powershell etc Regular travel to West London is required. Visa sponsorship not available. Apply today for more information chris.holt@dclsearch.com Use this whatapp link to reach out https://wa.me/message/6USF5RAQBOZIP1