BILL BLOW
Sky to hike prices for millions of customers by £42 a year
The telecoms giant says users will see an increase of £1 or £2 a month per product, with the average increase at £42 a year
MILLIONS of Sky broadband and TV customers will be hit with price hikes from April 1, while home phone users will see increases from May 1.
The telecoms giant says users will see an average increase of £3.50 a month (5.1 per cent) - or £42 a year.
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It adds that prices will rise by £1 or £2 a month per product. Some of the key increases are as follows:
- Sky Cinema - will rise from £10 a month to £11 a month - a 10 per cent hike
- Sky Entertainment - will rise from £20 a month to £22 a month - a 10 per cent hike
- Broadband - will rise by £1 a month although the exact price you'll pay depends on your package
- Sky Fibre - will rise by £2 a month although the exact price you'll pay depends on your package
- Sky Q Multi-Screen will rise from £12 a month to £13 a month - an 8.3 per cent increase.
- Talk prices are also rising although the exact price you'll pay depends on your package
Sky Talk Evening and Weekends will increase from £4 to £5 - a 25 per cent increase
Sky Talk Anytime will increase from £8 to £10 - a 25 per cent increase
Sky has confirmed that the number of customers affected will be in the millions.
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It says existing customers will be contacted by post with their personal increase from February 21.
New customers will see these prices from today.
Sky last upped broadband, TV and home phone prices in April 2018 when they rose by an average of £30 a year.
But not all prices are going up this time round - Sky Sports, Sky Go, Sky Box Sets, Sky HD, Sky Voicemail, Talk International, in-contract Sky Cinema and Sky Kids prices will not rise.
Can I cancel my contract early?
If you're outside of your contract minimum term and on a rolling deal you can cancel penalty free at any point by giving 31 days' notice.
How to beat the hikes
IF you're still in your contract and you're unhappy about the increase but don't want to leave Sky, then you can try calling up to haggle.
Telecoms firms don't wan't to lose customers so it's worth seeing if they can give you a better deal.
The best way to do this is by finding a better deal than you're already on. Then call up Sky and say you'd like to leave.
Ask if there is any way it can cut your bills. If it refuses, ask if there are any free extras that it can throw in.
Sky broadband and Talk customers within their minimum contract term can also cancel penalty free as a result of the price hikes by giving 31 days' notice.
You just need to contact Sky's customer services team.
But Sky TV customers within their minimum contract term cannot cancel penalty free. This is because Sky's TV terms and conditions allow price hikes.
Why is Sky hiking prices?
Sky says the price rises reflect the value it's added to packages over the past year, such as adding Netflix and Spotify to the service and introducing new TV shows.
A spokesperson for Sky, said: “We try to keep costs down and provide greater choice for our customers to pick the package that best suits them.
"We know price increases are never welcome, but we hope customers can see that our innovation, great content and our industry leading customer service provide good value.”
More on bills
Sky isn't the only provider to be upping prices. Millions of EE customers will be hit with a 2.7 per cent mobile bill rise from March 31 – adding up to £11.30 a year.
While 02 and Three Mobile are hiking bills by up to £10.50 a year from April and May respectively.
EE launches speedy new broadband that’s SIX TIMES faster than UK average
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